State Opening of Parliament: the full Army, Navy and RAF involvement in numbers and units
The British Armed Forces are to play a significant role in the ceremony marking the State Opening of Parliament, coincidentally the same day as Her Majesty The Queen's birthday.
Due to be held on 17 July, Parliament will be opened with more than 1,100 members of the Armed Forces in attendance, accompanied by 200 military horses.
Personnel from across the Armed Forces, including the British Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force will accompany the King on the day.
To mark the beginning of the next parliamentary session, all elements of the British Army's Household Division and other members of the Armed Forces will escort the King’s carriage to the House of Lords from Buckingham Palace.
The units taking part:
- The King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery
- The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment
- 1st Battalion Welsh Guards
- Nijmegen Company Grenadier Guards
- No 7 Company Coldstream Guards.
- The Royal Navy
- No 9 and No 12 Companies Irish Guards
- Honourable Artillery Company
- Royal Air Force
- The Band of the Grenadier Guards
- The Band of the Scots Guards
- The Band of the Welsh Guards
- The Band of the Household Cavalry
- 251 Signal Squadron of 10 Signal Regiment
- The Royal Army Medical Corps
- The Royal Army Veterinary Corps
- 20 Transport Regiment Royal Logistic Corps
Major General James Bowder, the General Officer Commanding London District, will take overall charge of the military involvement on the day.
His Majesty The King will be escorted by The Sovereign's Escort of The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment, under the command of Major Thomas Stewart of The Life Guards.
The Guard of Honour, who will be carrying the King’s Colour at the House of Lords, will be made up of the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards. They're known for their very distinctive bearskin caps.
They will be accompanied by the Band of the Welsh Guards, as well as lines of street performers and musicians.
During the parade, a 41-gun salute will signal the arrival of the Monarch as The King reaches the Sovereign's Entrance of The House of Lords and proceeds to the Robing Room.
The salute will have musical support from the (dismounted) Band of the Household Cavalry.
While proceedings are taking place in the House of Lords, the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards will march from their position outside the Sovereign's Entrance, via Parliament Square and Birdcage Walk, to provide a new Guard of Honour at Buckingham Palace for the return of The King.
As the King leaves Parliament, another 41-gun signal salute will be fired from the Tower of London by the Army's oldest regiment, The Honourable Artillery Company.
A further 62-round celebratory gun salute will sound to mark the birthday of Her Majesty Queen Camilla.
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