1st Regiment Royal Horse Artillery take up Public Duties

27th May 2026

1st Regiment Royal Horse Artillery are taking up Public Duties across May and June. 

Usually, it is soldiers from one of the five Guards' Regiments that visitors to London will see standing sentry outside Buckingham Palace. Occasionally, this honour and privilege is extended to guest regiments.

Whilst here, they have also taken part in a historic first: the first ever all-female military line up for the Ceremony of the Keys. This takes place at the Tower of London, and is said to be the oldest ceremony in the world. It is performed daily, and has hardly changed in 700 years, with Guards accompanying the Chief Warder as they lock the Tower for the night.

Check the schedule to see when you can see 1st Regiment Royal Horse Artillery in the Changing of the Guard throughout the month. 

Schedule

Three soldiers of the Royal Horse Artillery stand next to a large field gun as it fires. They wear ceremonial uniforms.

History

1st Regiment Royal Horse Artillery are a combat unit, formed in 1938, though their origins go back to the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.
They are an Armoured Artillery Regiment, meaning they are mobile artillery that travels with Tank units. Some of their men will be embedded with the troops at the front line coordinating artillery or air support.
Originally, they used horse drawn field guns, but by the Second World War were using guns towed by vehicles. Many of the Regiment were captured during the retreat from Dunkirk in 1940. A new Regiment fought in North Africa at Tobruk and El Alamein. In 1944 they moved to Italy and by now were using guns mounted on tank chassis (known as self-propelled guns).
They were stationed in Germany in the Cold War and took part in the Aden conflict and Gulf War. They deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan.
Recently, the regiment converted to the Archer self-propelled gun, mounted on a truck with an armoured cab. This 155mm gun is the largest artillery used by the British Army and carries several types of ammunition in a magazine, so it can be reloaded many times automatically without anyone needing to leave the safety of the cab. Archers have proved themselves in Ukraine where some have been gifted to the Ukrainians by NATO.
Photograph: Mark Owens © Crown copyright 2016
5

Sign up to our mailing list

To keep up to date with news and special events.