What is the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace?
Since 1660, Household Troops have guarded the Sovereign and the Royal Palaces. The Queen’s Guard is based at St James’s Palace (where the court was also based until 1837), and has a detachment guarding Buckingham Palace which includes the four sentries at the front of the building when The Queen is in residence. The Queen’s Guard usually consists of Foot Guards in full-dress uniform of red tunics and bearskins; if they have operational commitments, other units such as the Brigade of Gurkhas take part instead. The Changing of the Guard takes place in the forecourt of Buckingham Palace at 11.30 every day in summer, every other day in winter, and lasts about 45 minutes. The New Guard marches to the Palace from Wellington Barracks with a Guards band, the Old Guard hands over in a ceremony during which the sentries are changed and then returns to barracks. The New Guard then marches to St James’s Palace leaving the detachment at Buckingham Palace.
