The Household Cavalry Museum is a living museum about real people doing a real job in a real place. Through a large glazed partition you can see troopers working with horses in the original 18th century stables.
The experience comes alive with compelling personal stories, first hand accounts of the troopers’ rigorous and demanding training, interactive displays and stunning rare objects – many on public display for the first time.
The Household Cavalry Museum sits within Horse Guards in Whitehall, central London, one of the city’s most historic buildings. Dating from 1750, it is still the headquarters of the Household Division, in which the Household Cavalry has performed the Queen’s Life Guard in a daily ceremony that has remained broadly unchanged for over 350 years.
The Household Cavalry was formed in 1661 under the direct order of King Charles II and now consists of the two senior regiments of the British Army – The Life Guards and the Blues and Royals.
We have two roles: as a mounted regiment (on horseback), we guard His Majesty, The King on ceremonial occasions in London and across the UK and are a key part of the Royal pageantry; as an operational regiment we serve around the world in armoured fighting vehicles. Our fighting capacity is matched by our strategic role in international peace keeping and humanitarian operations.
This is a small but well thought out and fantastically presented museum covering the history and current mission of the Household Cavalry. With up to date museum exhibits and the opportunity to try on replica kit and see the horses in the stables at Horse Guards this is a great opportunity for families.
The Household Cavalry Foundation is the official charity for the Household Cavalry. The Foundation provides charitable and pastoral support to all the members of the Household Cavalry “family”: our serving soldiers, operational casualties, veterans and dependants. The Foundation also supports the Household Cavalry’s heritage, and the welfare of our retired horses.
Since The Restoration of The Monarchy in 1660 the four antecedent regiments of today’s Household Cavalry – The 1st and 2nd Life Guards, the Royal Horse Guards (The Blues) and the 1st (Royal) Dragoons – and their modern successors in The Life Guards and The Blues & Royals have fought in every major British Army campaign including Tangier, Dettingen, Warburg, Beaumont, Willems, Peninsula, Waterloo, Crimea, Egypt, Sudan, and the Boer and 1st and 2nd World Wars.
A Life Guard (Menzies – James Bond’s “M”) was “Churchill’s Spymaster”. Ian Fleming, creator of James Bond, worked for “M” and is believed to have based Bond on a Royal Horse Guard (Smiley). Another Blue (Laycock) led Britain’s Commandos and Special Service Brigade. Since the amalgamation of The Blues & Royals in 1969 Household Cavalrymen from The Life Guards and The Blues & Royals have fought wars in the Falkland Islands, Iraq and Afghanistan,
and deployed on peace-keeping duty in Ulster, Cyprus, the Balkans and Eastern Europe.
After the Afghanistan campaign a Household Cavalryman was the UK’s most decorated soldier. His biography is Bullet Magnet. Also in Afghanistan one of our snipers achieved The Longest Kill. Since 2003 Household Cavalrymen have won these bravery awards: a Distinguished Service Order, four Military Crosses, four Conspicuous Gallantry Crosses and a George Cross.
The Household Cavalry recruits nationwide; our Marches include “The Keel Row” and “Men of Harlech”.
Household Cavalrymen also provide The Sovereign’s daily Life Guards, and Royal Escorts for events such as The Birthday Parade (Trooping The Colour), State Visits by Foreign Dignitaries, and The State Opening of Parliament: “Best of Both Worlds: Operational and Ceremonial”.
The Household Cavalry’s mottos confirm this:
Honi Soit Qui Mal Y Pense “Evil Be To Him Who Evil Thinks”.
This is shared with The Order of The Garter (the United Kingdom’s senior Order of Chivalry) which is the personal gift of The Sovereign; and Spectemur Agendo “Judge Us By Our Deeds”.
Support is especially important now the majority of British armed forces are currently withdrawn from operations overseas. So we must not only care for physical injuries, but also prepare for enduring psychological problems, such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), that tend to emerge long after operational tours.
The Household Cavalry Foundation relies solely on public donations. All funds go to our five charitable areas: serving soldiers, operational casualties, veterans and dependants, and our heritage and our horses.
For more information about The Household Cavalry Foundation, and to see how you can help, please visit our website: www.hcavfoundation.org
or contact director@hcavfoundation.org or +44(0)207 839 4858.
(Charity Commission Number 1151869. Company Number 08236363)
Headquarters Household Cavalry, Horse Guards, Whitehall, London SW1A 2AX
The museum will be closed on the following dates & timings:
CLOSED – Sunday 17 November
Thursday 21 November – Open 10am – 3.30pm (last admission at 2.30pm)
Friday 29 November – Open 12pm – 5pm (last admission at 4pm)
Tuesday 3rd December – Open 1pm – 5pm (last admission at 4pm)
Wednesday 4th December – Open 10am – 4pm (last admission at 3pm)
Tuesday 17th December – Open 10am – 2pm (last admission at 1pm)
CLOSED 24th, 25th and 26th December
Tuesday 31 December – Open 10am – 2pm (last admission 1pm)