Horses more likely come to mind than bears when one mentions the Household Cavalry, but strange as it sounds, a bear has a unique claim to fame in the Household Cavalry’s regimental history, a fitting story for World Bear Day today…

Phillip was a brown bear, possibly imported from Canada where they are a native species, owned as a pet by Captain Sir Herbert Naylor-Leyland, who served from 1882-1891 in the 2nd Life Guards. The Life Guards were originally divided into the 1st and 2nd Life Guards until both regiments were amalgamated in 1922.

Captain Sir Herbert was a close friend of the Prince of Wales, the future King Edward VII, and godfather to his eldest son, Prince Albert, Duke of Clarence. After his time in the Army ended, he would also serve as the Tory MP for Colchester.

Phillip appears to have been more of a regimental pet than an official regimental mascot. Records from the period show that he was housed with the regiment at their barracks, his care and upkeep the responsibility of one Corporal Bert Grainger of the 2nd Life Guards while Captain Naylor-Leyland was on duty. According to a letter written by an eyewitness, at times Grainger would hold wrestling matches with Phillip, which the public could pay for the privilege of watching!

Captain Naylor-Leyland died in 1899, aged only 35, but Phillip long outlived his owner, remaining in the 2nd Life Guards’ care until August 1914 when Britain entered the First World War. Phillip could not, for obvious reasons, accompany the regiment to the Western Front, so the decision was made to rehome him at London Zoo. As all record of him ceases after this point, and there is no evidence anyone from the regiment tried to reclaim him after the war, we can only presume Phillip ended his days at London Zoo. 

In an interesting coincidence, Captain Sir Herbert’s great grandson, Lieutenant Sir Phillip Naylor-Leyland would serve in the Life Guards during the 1970s. Whether his name was a deliberate reference to his great-grandfather’s curious pet remains a mystery…

Etchings depicting what is believed to be Phillip (though it erroneously lists him as belonging to the 1st Life Guards) and the unnamed bear of the Royal Horse Guards, preserved at the Household Cavalry’s regimental archive at Combermere Barracks, Windsor.

Phillip wasn’t the only bear who has belonged to the Household Cavalry: the 1st Life Guards, unwilling to be outdone by their 2nd Life Guard comrades, had a stuffed bear mounted at the entrance to the Officers’ House at Regent’s Park Barracks, while the Royal Horse Guards (the Blues) had their own live bear at Combermere Barracks in Windsor, though any details about this particular animal have been lost to history.