One of London’s favourite tourist attractions is the Changing of the Guard. It was even famous enough to be the subject of a poem by A A Milne.
Not everyone realises that there are actually two ceremonies. One, the best known, takes place at Buckingham Palace. The ‘Guard’, in this case, consists of foot soldiers and a marching band.
The Palace ceremony starts just after 11:00 with the arrival of the old guard from St James Palace with musical accompaniment. Between April and July, the guard change takes place daily. The rest of the year, the ceremony is held every two days.
At the same time as the Buckingham Palace guard change, the mounted guard, down the road at Horse Guards Parade, is also changing. Mounted troopers, usually from the Household Cavalry, travel down the Mall and assemble on the Horse Guards parade ground.
During this second parade, there are very few barriers between the audience and the participants. And if you like horses, you can get up close and personal with the Police horses of the escort while waiting for things to happen.