King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery
Encyclopedia
The King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery is a ceremonial unit of the British Army
. It is a mounted unit and all of its soldiers are trained to drive a team of six horses that pull each of the six First World War-era 13-pounder state saluting guns
. Its duties include the firing of Royal salutes in Hyde Park
on both Royal Anniversaries and State Occasions, and providing a gun carriage and team of black horses for State and Military funerals.
The unit is most often seen providing gun salutes on state occasions in Hyde Park, and Green Park. They also mount the Queen's Life Guard at Horse Guards
when the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment
go away for their summer training for one month each year.
It was named The King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery in 1947 when King George VI
decided that, following the mechanisation of the last batteries of horse drawn artillery, a troop of horse artillery
should be kept to take part in the great ceremonies of state. At the suggestion of Brigadier John Anquetil Norman, the King declared that the Riding Troop of the Royal Horse Artillery
would be known as 'The King's Troop'. The King enacted his proclamation by amending the page on the visitors book of the Troop in manuscript, striking out the word "Riding" and inserting "King's". On her accession, Queen Elizabeth II
declared that the name 'The King's Troop' would remain in honour of her father.
The King's Troop forms part of the Household Troops and, when on parade with its guns, takes precedence over all other regiments in the regular forces of the British Army (see the British Army Order of Precedence
). It is based in St John's Wood
which is home to 111 horses.
Although the King's Troop is primarily a ceremonial unit, with responsibility for firing gun salutes on state occasions, it has an operational role as part of the territorial defence of the United Kingdom
. Men and women of The King's Troop are trained as fighting soldiers. Six men or women are currently deployed in Afghanistan or Iraq at any one time. When the Army mobilises, the King’s Troop provides HGV drivers who deliver ammunition to artillery units around the battlefield.
from its formation in 1947 to the final Royal Tournament on 2 August 1999. The Musical Drive can be seen at shows around the United Kingdom and always at the Royal Windsor Horse Show
in May every year.
Many of the manoeuvres of the Musical Drive have remained unchanged since it was first performed in 1897. The start, known as the Big Drive, features the Scissors, where the whole team criss-cross at gallop, displaying choreography, teamwork and discipline. Another manoeuvre, the Wagon Wheel, depicts an inner wheel, spokes, and an outer wheel. A display may then finish with a Battery Charge.
For the Heroes Welcome in Windsor in May 2008 there were six gun teams, each of ten horses and seven riders. Women, first admitted to the King's Toop in 1996, made up one-third of the display team. Major Erica Bridge is the first female commanding officer of the King's Troop.
the King's Troop appear every June at Trooping the Colour
, on Horse Guards Parade
to celebrate the Queen's Official Birthday. Along with all guns of the Royal Regiment of Artillery, their guns are their colours and are acknowledged by the Queen and all on parade as such. The guns take precedence over all other regiments when on parade, and so when the cavalry ride past at the culmination of the parade, the King's Troop are given the distinction of being first to do so, before the Household Cavalry.
After the ceremony, the King's Troop repairs to Green Park
, adjacent to Buckingham Palace
, firing a 41-gun salute, which is a 21-gun salute
with an additional 20 rounds fired because the gun position is in a Royal Park.
, served as an escort to Diana, Princess of Wales
's coffin from Kensington Palace
to Westminster Abbey
.
The King's Troop RHA provided the horses and Driver for the Wagon GS, owned by The Royal Logistic Corps, for the reinterment of a soldier at the Fromelles (Pheasant Wood) War Graves Cemetery in 2010.
, the Household Cavalry is always listed first and always parades at the extreme right of the line. However when the Royal Horse Artillery
is on parade with its guns, (usually in the form of The Kings Troop) it will replace the Household Cavalry at the extreme right of the line.
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
. It is a mounted unit and all of its soldiers are trained to drive a team of six horses that pull each of the six First World War-era 13-pounder state saluting guns
Ordnance QF 13 pounder
The Ordnance QF 13-pounder quick-firing field gun was the standard equipment of the British Royal Horse Artillery at the outbreak of World War I.-History:...
. Its duties include the firing of Royal salutes in Hyde Park
Hyde Park, London
Hyde Park is one of the largest parks in central London, United Kingdom, and one of the Royal Parks of London, famous for its Speakers' Corner.The park is divided in two by the Serpentine...
on both Royal Anniversaries and State Occasions, and providing a gun carriage and team of black horses for State and Military funerals.
The unit is most often seen providing gun salutes on state occasions in Hyde Park, and Green Park. They also mount the Queen's Life Guard at Horse Guards
Horse Guards (building)
Horse Guards is a large grade I listed building in the Palladian style between Whitehall and Horse Guards Parade in London, England. It was built between 1751 and 1753 by John Vardy to a design by William Kent. The building was constructed on the site of the Guard House of the old Whitehall Palace,...
when the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment
Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment
The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment is a ceremonial cavalry regiment of the British Army. It is classed as a regiment of guards, and carries out mounted ceremonial duties on State and Royal occasions. These include the provision of the Sovereign's Escort, most commonly seen at the present...
go away for their summer training for one month each year.
It was named The King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery in 1947 when King George VI
George VI of the United Kingdom
George VI was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death...
decided that, following the mechanisation of the last batteries of horse drawn artillery, a troop of horse artillery
Horse artillery
Horse artillery was a type of light, fast-moving and fast-firing artillery which provided highly mobile fire support to European and American armies from the 17th to the early 20th century...
should be kept to take part in the great ceremonies of state. At the suggestion of Brigadier John Anquetil Norman, the King declared that the Riding Troop of the Royal Horse Artillery
Royal Horse Artillery
The regiments of the Royal Horse Artillery , dating from 1793, are part of the Royal Regiment of Artillery of the British Army...
would be known as 'The King's Troop'. The King enacted his proclamation by amending the page on the visitors book of the Troop in manuscript, striking out the word "Riding" and inserting "King's". On her accession, Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
declared that the name 'The King's Troop' would remain in honour of her father.
The King's Troop forms part of the Household Troops and, when on parade with its guns, takes precedence over all other regiments in the regular forces of the British Army (see the British Army Order of Precedence
British Army Order of Precedence
The regular army of the British Army is listed according to an order of precedence for the purposes of parading. This is the order in which the various corps of the army parade, from right to left, with the unit at the extreme right being highest. Under ordinary circumstances, the Household Cavalry...
). It is based in St John's Wood
St John's Wood
St John's Wood is a district of north-west London, England, in the City of Westminster, and at the north-west end of Regent's Park. It is approximately 2.5 miles north-west of Charing Cross. Once part of the Great Middlesex Forest, it was later owned by the Knights of St John of Jerusalem...
which is home to 111 horses.
Although the King's Troop is primarily a ceremonial unit, with responsibility for firing gun salutes on state occasions, it has an operational role as part of the territorial defence of the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. Men and women of The King's Troop are trained as fighting soldiers. Six men or women are currently deployed in Afghanistan or Iraq at any one time. When the Army mobilises, the King’s Troop provides HGV drivers who deliver ammunition to artillery units around the battlefield.
Musical Drive
The King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery performed their Musical Drive at every Royal TournamentRoyal Tournament
The Royal Tournament was the World's largest military tattoo and pageant, held by the British Armed Forces annually between 1880 and 1999. The venue was originally the Royal Agricultural Hall and latterly the Earls Court Exhibition Centre...
from its formation in 1947 to the final Royal Tournament on 2 August 1999. The Musical Drive can be seen at shows around the United Kingdom and always at the Royal Windsor Horse Show
Royal Windsor Horse Show
The Royal Windsor Horse Show is a horse show held annually since 1943 for five days in May or June in Windsor Home Park....
in May every year.
Many of the manoeuvres of the Musical Drive have remained unchanged since it was first performed in 1897. The start, known as the Big Drive, features the Scissors, where the whole team criss-cross at gallop, displaying choreography, teamwork and discipline. Another manoeuvre, the Wagon Wheel, depicts an inner wheel, spokes, and an outer wheel. A display may then finish with a Battery Charge.
For the Heroes Welcome in Windsor in May 2008 there were six gun teams, each of ten horses and seven riders. Women, first admitted to the King's Toop in 1996, made up one-third of the display team. Major Erica Bridge is the first female commanding officer of the King's Troop.
Trooping the Colour
Together with the Household DivisionHousehold Division
Household Division is a term used principally in the Commonwealth of Nations to describe a country’s most elite or historically senior military units, or those military units that provide ceremonial or protective functions associated directly with the head of state.-Historical Development:In...
the King's Troop appear every June at Trooping the Colour
Trooping the Colour
Trooping the Colour is a ceremony performed by regiments of the British and the Commonwealth armies. It has been a tradition of British infantry regiments since the 17th century, although the roots go back much earlier. On battlefields, a regiment's colours, or flags, were used as rallying points...
, on Horse Guards Parade
Horse Guards Parade
Horse Guards Parade is a large parade ground off Whitehall in central London, at grid reference . It is the site of the annual ceremonies of Trooping the Colour, which commemorates the monarch's official birthday, and Beating Retreat.-History:...
to celebrate the Queen's Official Birthday. Along with all guns of the Royal Regiment of Artillery, their guns are their colours and are acknowledged by the Queen and all on parade as such. The guns take precedence over all other regiments when on parade, and so when the cavalry ride past at the culmination of the parade, the King's Troop are given the distinction of being first to do so, before the Household Cavalry.
After the ceremony, the King's Troop repairs to Green Park
Green Park
-External links:*...
, adjacent to Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace, in London, is the principal residence and office of the British monarch. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is a setting for state occasions and royal hospitality...
, firing a 41-gun salute, which is a 21-gun salute
21-gun salute
Gun salutes are the firing of cannons or firearms as a military or naval honor.The custom stems from naval tradition, where a warship would fire its cannons harmlessly out to sea, until all ammunition was spent, to show that it was disarmed, signifying the lack of hostile intent...
with an additional 20 rounds fired because the gun position is in a Royal Park.
Other ceremonial duties
On 6 September 1997, members of the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery, together with the Guardsmen of the 1st Battalion, the "Prince of Wales" Company, Welsh GuardsWelsh Guards
The Welsh Guards is an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Guards Division.-Creation :The Welsh Guards came into existence on 26 February 1915 by Royal Warrant of His Majesty King George V in order to include Wales in the national component to the Foot Guards, "..though the order...
, served as an escort to Diana, Princess of Wales
Diana, Princess of Wales
Diana, Princess of Wales was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, whom she married on 29 July 1981, and an international charity and fundraising figure, as well as a preeminent celebrity of the late 20th century...
's coffin from Kensington Palace
Kensington Palace
Kensington Palace is a royal residence set in Kensington Gardens in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. It has been a residence of the British Royal Family since the 17th century and is the official London residence of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, the Duke and...
to Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
.
The King's Troop RHA provided the horses and Driver for the Wagon GS, owned by The Royal Logistic Corps, for the reinterment of a soldier at the Fromelles (Pheasant Wood) War Graves Cemetery in 2010.
Order of precedence
In the British Army Order of PrecedenceBritish Army Order of Precedence
The regular army of the British Army is listed according to an order of precedence for the purposes of parading. This is the order in which the various corps of the army parade, from right to left, with the unit at the extreme right being highest. Under ordinary circumstances, the Household Cavalry...
, the Household Cavalry is always listed first and always parades at the extreme right of the line. However when the Royal Horse Artillery
Royal Horse Artillery
The regiments of the Royal Horse Artillery , dating from 1793, are part of the Royal Regiment of Artillery of the British Army...
is on parade with its guns, (usually in the form of The Kings Troop) it will replace the Household Cavalry at the extreme right of the line.
See also
- Honourable Artillery CompanyHonourable Artillery CompanyThe Honourable Artillery Company was incorporated by Royal Charter in 1537 by King Henry VIII. Today it is a Registered Charity whose purpose is to attend to the “better defence of the realm"...
- Royal Regiment of Artillery
- Royal TournamentRoyal TournamentThe Royal Tournament was the World's largest military tattoo and pageant, held by the British Armed Forces annually between 1880 and 1999. The venue was originally the Royal Agricultural Hall and latterly the Earls Court Exhibition Centre...
- Trooping the ColourTrooping the ColourTrooping the Colour is a ceremony performed by regiments of the British and the Commonwealth armies. It has been a tradition of British infantry regiments since the 17th century, although the roots go back much earlier. On battlefields, a regiment's colours, or flags, were used as rallying points...