'Quite an honour': Canadians take a turn as the King's Life Guard in London
CBC
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A mounted ceremonial guard at Horse Guards, the official entrance to the royal palaces or riding down streets in central London is a familiar sight — and for the next eight days, Canadian soldiers will carry out the duties.
Members of Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians), a tank regiment of the Canadian Armed Forces based in Edmonton, were invited by King Charles and took over duties as the King's Life Guard on Friday.
It's been a tradition for nearly 400 years and one the Canadians are proud to take on.
"It's quite an honour to be asked to come over here, to participate, to be able to help support, to have the riders come and do the ceremonial task for our sovereign," Maj. Colin Peterson, the officer commanding C Squadron with Lord Strathcona's Horse, told the CBC's Anna Cunningham.
Twenty-six members of the regiment are on hand for the duties that come as the regiment celebrates its 125th anniversary.
The Canadians will ride the horses of the U.K. army's Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment, and have been in the U.K. practising with the mounts, which are considerably bigger than their quarter-horses back home.
"Our kit needs to be a little modified to be able to fit onto their larger mounts, and from there we're able to practise, do some walk-throughs of exactly what the guard will entail, and then ride around the city to be able to get comfortable with riding through the traffic," Capt. Tom Lauterbacher, the Strathcona Mounted Troop leader, told Cunningham.
King Charles is the regiment's honorary colonel-in-chief.
"He's also not only the King of England, he is the King of Canada as well, the sovereign to our nation," Lauterbacher said.
"So that tie has always been there, and it's great to promote that and keep that going throughout the turmoil that the world ... obviously sees every day."
It is only the third time the ceremonial role has been carried out by soldiers from outside the U.K.
The two other times were also by Canadians. In 2012, the Mounties took on the role while they were in the U.K. to mark Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee. In 2000, Lord Strathcona's Horse had its first run at the experience while commemorating its 100th regimental anniversary.
"We have such a long-established bond between our two countries," Lauterbacher said.
