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The Household Division typically has one infantry [[battalion]] posted for [[public duties]]; rotating between the first battalion of all five Foot Guards Regiments except the Scots Guards. In addition, there are five [[Guards Incremental Companies|incremental companies]] based at Victoria Barracks and Wellington Barracks - one each of the Grenadier, Coldstream and Scots Guards plus two from whichever Guards battalion is posted to [[11th Security Force Assistance Brigade]]. All of these units come under the administrative authority of the London District – as public duties units, they not only take part in ceremonial but are also committed to providing military aid to the civilian authorities.
[[File:Band in a Circle - geograph.org.uk - 4253643.jpg|thumb|The band of the [[Irish Guards]] at [[Wellington Barracks]], 2002. The barracks is used by foot guard battalions on public duties in London.]]
===King's
The King's Guard is the name given to the contingent of [[infantry]] responsible for guarding Buckingham Palace and St James's Palace (including [[Clarence House]]) in London. The guard is made up of a [[Company (military unit)|company]] of soldiers from a single regiment, which is split in two, providing a detachment for Buckingham Palace and a detachment for St James's Palace. Because the [[British Monarch|Sovereign's]] official residence is still St James's, the guard commander (called the captain of the guard) is based there, as are the regiment's [[colours and guidons|colours]]. When the Sovereign is in residence, the King's Guard numbers three officers and forty other ranks, with four sentries each posted at Buckingham Palace (on the forecourt) and St James's Palace (two in Friary Court, two at the entrance to Clarence House). This reduces to three officers and 31 ORs, with two sentries each, when the Sovereign is not in residence.<ref>Paget, J; 'The Story of the Guards' p275</ref> The King's Guard is not purely ceremonial. They provide sentries during the day and night, and during the later hours, they patrol the grounds of the Palace. Until 1959, the sentries at Buckingham Palace were stationed outside the fence. This stopped following an incident involving a female tourist and a Coldstream Guardsman – due to the continued pestering by tourists and sightseers, the guardsman kicked the tourist on the ankle as he marched. The tourist made a complaint to the police and the sentry was confined to barracks for ten days. Not long after, the sentries were moved inside the fence.<ref>Paget, J; Ibid p275</ref>
====Detachments====
[[File:Guards at Buckingham Palace (32629261244).jpg|thumb|A sentry at [[Buckingham Palace]] being relieved during the [[changing of the guard]].]]
The King's Guard in London changes in the forecourt of Buckingham Palace at 11:00 am every day in early summer and four times per week otherwise.<ref>[https://www.householddivision.org.uk/changing-the-guard-calendar Changing the Guard] – Household Division.</ref>
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*[[Welsh Guards]]
{{col div end}}
[[File:London the mall - Queen's Colour Squadron - 14.JPG|thumb|Members of the [[King's Colour Squadron]]
In addition, the [[RAF Regiment]] takes over the guard for around three weeks per year. The [[King's Colour Squadron]] is the RAF Regiment's dedicated ceremonial unit for this task. The King's Colour Squadron represents the whole [[Royal Air Force]] as the units mounting the guard need to be infantry trained.
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====Other British Army units====
Several other British Army units have also formed the guard. Prior to [[Options for Change]], because there were a total of eight guards battalions, it was rare for battalions of line infantry to mount the King's Guard and, as such, was a significant honour. Before 1996, only two battalions had served on public duties as part of an operational tour in London District.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.regiments.org/ |title=Regiments |date=9 February 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120209010054/http://www.regiments.org/ |archive-date=9 February 2012
[[File:Changing of the Guard - squad of Royal Gibraltar Regiment.jpg|thumb|Members of the [[Royal Gibraltar Regiment]] taking up guard duties, as a member of the [[Coldstream Guards]] (right foreground) escorts them]]
Since 2013, regular public duties responsibility has reverted to the Household Division.<ref name="pwrr"/> However, line infantry units occasionally provide the Guard for short periods of time. The [[Royal Gibraltar Regiment]] is a line infantry regiment and home defence unit of [[British Forces Gibraltar]], that formed the Queen's Guard in March 2001, April 2012 and March 2022. In 2012, the Royal Gibraltar Regiment became the first unit to provide both the Queen's Guard and the [[Saluting Battery, Gibraltar|Saluting Battery]] simultaneously. In the summer of 2018, [[Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders|Balaklava Company]], the dedicated public duties unit of the [[Royal Regiment of Scotland]], and 2nd Battalion, [[The Rifles]], both provided the Guard at Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.army.mod.uk/news-and-events/news/2018/04/the-royal-regiment-of-scotland-passed-fit-for-london-public-duties/ |title=The Royal Regiment of Scotland passed fit for London public duties |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=20 April 2018 |publisher=British Army |access-date=16 June 2018 }}</ref><ref name="Public Duties MayJun2018">{{cite web|url=http://www.householddivision.org.uk/changing-the-guard-calendar|title=Public Duties in London and Windsor - May and Jun 2018|website=Household Division|access-date=5 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180616131143/https://www.householddivision.org.uk/index.php?action=changing-the-guard-calendar |archive-date=16 June 2018}}</ref>
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|[[10 Queen's Own Gurkha Logistic Regiment RLC|10 Queen's Own Gurkha Logistic Regiment]]||May–Jul 2019<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.royallogisticcorps.co.uk/10-qoglr-to-undertake-public-duties/ |title=10 QOGLR to undertake public duties |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=18 April 2019 |website=The Royal Logistic Corps |access-date=29 July 2019 }}</ref>
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|10 Queen's Own Gurkha Logistic Regiment||May-Jun 2022
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|[[Queen's Gurkha Signals]]||Apr-May 2024
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Units from the [[British Empire]] and Commonwealth of Nations have occasionally formed the King's Guard. The [[117th (Eastern Townships) Battalion, CEF|117th (Eastern Townships) Battalion]] of the [[Canadian Expeditionary Force]] was the first non-British unit to form the guard in 1916. The first time commands were given in another language other than English occurred in 1940, when the French Canadian [[Royal 22e Régiment|Royal 22<sup>e</sup> Régiment]] formed the guard and issued their commands in French.<ref name=rcinet>{{cite web|url=https://www.rcinet.ca/en/2018/10/19/canadian-troops-once-again-guard-buckingham-palace/|title=Canadian troops once again guard Buckingham Palace|date=19 October 2018|access-date=16 April 2022|last=Montgomery|first=Marc|publisher=Radio Canada International|website=rcinet.ca}}</ref> Only one unit from a Commonwealth country where the sovereign was not head of state has formed the guard, the 1st Battalion, [[Royal Malay Regiment]] in 2008.
British Empire and Commonwealth units have formed the guard to mark a number of occasions, such as the [[coronation of George VI and Elizabeth|coronations of George VI]]
Units that have formed the guard to commemorate national historic anniversaries include the [[
Some Commonwealth units will form the guard on days that are significant to their country, with the [[Jamaica Regiment]] having mounted the guard on Jamaican [[Emancipation Day]] and [[Independence Day (Jamaica)|Independence Day]], and the Royal Canadian Air Force having formed the guard on [[Canada Day]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://jis.gov.jm/the-jamaica-regiment-to-mount-queens-guard-at-buckingham-palace/|website=jis.gov.jm|title=The Jamaica Regiment to Mount Queen's Guard at Buckingham Palace|publisher=Jamaica Information Services|date=19 July 2007|access-date=16 April 2022}}</ref><ref name=rcaf2018/>
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====Non-Commonwealth units====
On 8 April 2024, to commemorate the 120th anniversary of the [[Entente Cordiale]], a detachment from the 2e Régiment d'Infanterie of the French [[Republican Guard (France)|Garde Republicaine]] became the first unit from a non-Commonwealth country to participate in the ceremony - the detachment were marched onto the forecourt of Buckingham Palace in place of that day's New Guard, and were inspected by the [[Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh|Duke]] and [[Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh|Duchess of Edinburgh]] alongside [[Hélène Tréheux-Duchêne]], the [[List of ambassadors of France to the United Kingdom|French Ambassador to the United Kingdom]], before then being marched off. In a reciprocal arrangement, soldiers of No. 7 Company, Coldstream Guards took part in the guard mounting ceremony at the [[Élysée Palace]], official residence of the [[President of France|French President]], in [[Paris]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.forces.net/services/army/british-and-french-troops-rehearse-historic-changing-guard-ahead-monumental-ceremony |title=UK and French troops rehearse Changing of the Guard ahead of historic ceremony
|author=<!--Not stated--> |date=5 April 2024 |website=Forces News |publisher=BFBS |access-date=8 April 2024 |quote=}}</ref>
===King's Life Guard===
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With a [[guard mount]] at 3{{nbsp}}pm, each guard consisted of one officer, one sergeant, one corporal, one lance corporal, eight guardsmen and a drummer; originally the guard had thirty guardsmen.
Once at the bank, there were two sentry posts, one outside the Counting House Parlour and another outside the bullion vaults.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theweek.co.uk/europe/57127/lessons-ukraine-what-if-we-lost-patience-politicians|title=Lessons from Ukraine: what if WE lost patience with politicians?|website=[[The Week]] }}</ref> The officer was given half a bottle of port and the right to invite a friend or two to dinner in the bank. The [[Other ranks (UK)|other ranks]] were given a pint of beer with their dinner and one brand new shilling, two for a sergeant, to buy tea and a cake in the canteen. The Guard wore [[Plimsoll shoe|plimsolls]] in the Bank.
From 1963, the Bank Picquet travelled by vehicle clad in [[Service Dress (British Army)|service dress]] and armed with automatic weapons, with the emphasis on security moving from ceremonial to tactical deployment. Improved security features and armed police made the guard unnecessary, and the service ended on the evening of 31 July 1973.<ref name="BankOE">{{cite book|title=The Bank of England: 1950s to 1979|author=Forrest Capie|date=20 July 2010|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ePic4O3SnpkC&pg=PA64|page=64|publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9781139490122}}</ref>
===Windsor===
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===Edinburgh===
Sentry posts are mounted at [[Palace of Holyroodhouse]] and at [[Edinburgh Castle]]. Although the Household Division's primarily operates in London and Windsor,<ref name=hhdhq/> the Scots Guards have mounted these postings when the sovereign is in Edinburgh.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/politics/scots-guards-return-home-mark-queens-holyrood-anniversary-visit-544814|title=Scots Guards return home to mark
[[File:Guard outside Edinburgh Castle.jpg|thumb|A sentry of the [[Royal Regiment of Scotland]] posted on the Esplanade outside Edinburgh Castle]]
These sentry postings are also mounted at other times of the year, including Lord Commissioner's Week, and the month of the [[Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo]]. These sentries may also sometimes serve as the [[guard of honour]] for the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo. As there is no guard battalion permanently based in the city, sentries are provided by whichever resident infantry battalion is at [[Redford Barracks]].
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