More than 200 years after the Battle of Waterloo ended Napoleon Bonaparte's ambitions and brought the Napoleonic Wars to a close, a handful of remarkable artefacts continue to tell the human stories behind the famous victory. Among the most fascinating items in the Household Cavalry Museum are the skull cast of Corporal of Horse John Shaw, the prosthetic leg of...

On 17 June 1815, just one day before the Battle of Waterloo, the 1st Life Guards hurled themselves into battle at the Belgian village of Genappe, fighting a savage rearguard action that rescued their comrades of the 7th Hussars and 23rd Light Dragoons from French lancers. Their timely intervention successfully threw back the French cavalry pursuing the Anglo-Allied army as...

The two regiments of the Household Cavalry, the Life Guards and the Blues and Royals, are visually distinctive on parade, particularly in the coming months when they are a focal point of the summer pageantry on Horse Guards Parade.  But what is the significance of their vibrant and ornate uniforms? Why do some members of the Household Cavalry differ from...

Every artefact displayed in the Household Cavalry Museum comes with a unique story attached, some far stranger than others - from a phenomenally expensive officer’s breastplate worn only once, to a sword wielded in combat at the Battle of Waterloo, to a campaign medal awarded to a cavalry horse for bravery. It is the Museum’s responsibility to preserve this historical...

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...

For over 350 years, the Household Cavalry has stood as a living link between the British Monarchy and its armed forces. From its origins under Charles II to its modern ceremonial duties, the Household Cavalry’s story is woven tightly into the fabric of royal history. Charles II: The Founding Monarch The story begins in the reign of Charles II, who,...

The story of the Household Cavalry is not just a tale of ceremonial pomp - it's a living timeline of royal service, military tradition, and national history. From the battlefields of Europe to the heart of London’s ceremonial life, the regiments that make up today’s Household Cavalry have played a continuous and evolving role since the 17th century. 1660 –...