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Horse Guards Parade

In 1529 Henry the Eighth appropriated York Palace, the London residence of the Archbishops of York, from Cardinal Wolsey. Henry renamed it Whitehall Palace, and extended the already enormous building. Horse Guards Parade stands on the site of a tiltyard which was built at Whitehall in 1533. Here Henry would indulge his appetite for jousting, a sport in which he would eventually injure himself, leading to the immobility which contributed to his famous size. Henry's daughter Elizabeth the First also loved jousting, sensibly as an observer not a participant. She began a tradition of two jousting festivals, one on her birthday, 7th of September, and one on the anniversary of her succession, January 15th. These jousting festivals are the early manifestations of the Trooping the Colour Ceremony which is still carried out every year to celebrate the monarch's birthday.

The long history behind Trooping the Colour suggests great stability. But equally the history of the famous parade ground on which it takes place recalls the turbulence that has accompanied the long walk of monarchs into the present day. In January 1649, at the end of the English Civil War, Charles the First was taken from St James's Palace, through Horse Guards Parade to the Banqueting House, where he was executed by Parliament. If you look carefully at the clock overlooking Horse Guards you will see a black mark on the clock face. This commemorates the time of the execution, which was 2pm.

St James's Park from Horse Guards Parade

When Charles the First's son Charles the Second was restored to the throne in 1660 he was understandably concerned for his personal security. He created the Household Cavalry, the Grenadier Guards and the Coldstream Guards as a standing army ready to protect the king. His father had tried to do something similar, but the early events of approaching civil war had overtaken his preparations. To house the men and their horses the first buildings around Horse Guards were built, and these formed the basis for the buildings seen today. The Household Cavalry sentries, so popular with modern tourists, were originally placed on duty in their sentry boxes by Charles the Second. In those days detachments of the Household Cavalry would also be placed out in St James's Park, to keep an eye on the royal family when they were out in what was already a public park. The Horse Guards buildings survived the fire that destroyed Whitehall Palace in 1698, but by 1745 they were in a poor state of repair. William Kent used the design of the old building in the one that replaced it. The arch leading into Horse Guards with the dome on the top remains therefore an accurate representation of how Horse Guards would have looked in the reign of Charles the Second.

Today, as during the seventeenth century Horse Guards provides the headquarters for the Household Cavalry, and the monarch's birthday continues to be celebrated with a horse riding display. This event, combines the old jousting traditions started by Elizabeth the First, and manoeuvers of cavalry put in place by Charles the Second, fearing for his safety. Trooping the Colour, which takes place every June, has in its history both the reassurance of tradition, and the echoes of revolution and disorder. This makes the ceremony rather like Guy Faulk's Night, another long standing British tradition. Guy Faulk's Night celebrates the defeat of an attempt to blow up the Houses of Parliament, whilst enacting what would have happened if the plot had not been folied. It is a celebration of stability, and a reminder of explosive change. Trooping the Colour celebrates the stability of the monarch's birthday, using the troops gathered by Charles the Second to defend himself against the fate of execution that befell his father in Whitehall in 1649, very close to Horse Guards. As the soldiers march and ride by it is a little like the revolution has begun and the troops have been called out. Here then is a suggestion of the danger and excitement of change, which of course a country has to accommodate if it is to develop. The British seem quite good at ceremonies that celebrate both order and disorder at the same time.

In a darkly fitting sort of way Horse Guards Parade was the scene of an IRA mortar attack on 10 Downing Street in February 1991. At that point Horse Guards was used as a car park when not in ceremonial use, and it was from this car park that the attack was mounted, over the garden wall of Number 10 which backs onto to Horse Guards. Since then Horse Guards has been returned to its beautiful wide open space, a place where stability and threat come together in centuries old ceremonies.

Directions: Horse Guards Parade is just off Whitehall in Westminster, London. The nearest Underground stations are Westminster and Charing Cross. Click here for an interactive map centred on Horse Guards Parade.

Contact: For information on attending Trooping the Colour see http://www.army.mod.uk/ceremonialandheritage/household/trooping.htm