THE LIFE GUARDS

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 55, Issue 293, 24 September 1935, Page 3

THE LIFE GUARDS

HISTORY AND TRADITIONS.

ADDRESS BY LORD GALWAY. After lunching.with members of the New Zealand Club at Wellington the other day, Viscount Galway, in a short address, dealt briefly with the interesting history and traditions of the Life Guards, which since olden times have been his Majesty’s bodyguard. His .Excellency said he thought members might like to hear something about the regiment ho used to command. It was one of the oldest in the army and the one most closely in personal touch with the King.' The regiment was the 'Life Guards which from the old days had been his Majesty’s bodyguard. The first seeds of the regiment were really sown in 1537 in the reign of King Henry the Eighth, when a plot to assassinate the King was discovered. The King appointed two of his distinguished courtiers to be responsible for his safety. In those days, of course, there were no police, the court being responsible ior the safety of the monarch. The two courtiers were appointed the Gold Stick in Waiting and the Silver Stick in Waiting, and those offices wen maintained to the present day by the members of the Household Cavalry. The Household Cavalry comprised two regiments—the Royal Guards, who wore a scarlet uniform and the Royal Horse Guards, whose uniform was blue. His Excellency referred to other features of the uniforms, mentioning the oaE-leaf badge and the cord in the middle of the cross belt. The cord, lie said, was the sign of the household of the King, the King’s servants, and it was worn whenever the King was travelling. The Royal Guards had taken part in the Peninsula Campaign, Waterloo and they had fought in Africa, Egypt, in South Africa and in the Great War. Their duties were still in a way to protect the Sovereign, and so it was that whenever there was a State function the escort of the Household Cavalry was to be seen, and they made a very distinctive feature of a Royal and State procession. The Regiment had a very efficient Old Comrades’ Association which conducted an employment bureau for former members and! gave other assistance where necessary.

“We are intensely proud and always have been of o.ur association with the direct escorting of his Majesty,” concluded iiis Excellency, “and we look upon our Regiment as everybody does bis own regiment, as second to none, and we take the utmost and greatest pride in it.”