Page 81 - The Bugle Issue 12 Autumn 2016

Royal Guard
In July 2016 39 Ri emen of C Company were given the honour of providing Her Majesty the Queen’s Royal Guard during Edinburgh’s Royal Week. The Ri emen stood duty come rain or shine at both Edinburgh Castle and Holyrood Palace (Her Majesty’s residence in Edinburgh) from 0900 to 2200, an honour not bestowed on The Ri es since before formation in 2007.
Known in Scotland as Royal Week, Her Majesty’s visits to Edinburgh and the surrounding area serve to celebrate Scottish culture, achievement and community. During this time she meets people from all walks of life and hosts thousands at the Palace of Holyrood in recognition of their good work.
Each night at the Palace, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh could be seen gazing out of the windows as the dismount of the guard took place – certainly a little added pressure! The Queen was said to be quite captivated by the distinctiveness of light drill as compared to the more usual heavy drill that she sees from her Foot Guards on a regular basis.
As Edinburgh Castle attracts over 3 million visitors per year, throughout the week the Ri emen there were inundated with tourists requesting pictures and attempting (to no avail) to distract them from their
guard duties. Only the weather was able to wrong foot the Ri emen, with a particularly heavy Scottish summer downpour creating slippery paving stones which sent one unfortunate Ri eman sprawling as he attempted to halt!
The castle guard particularly enjoyed their daily rounds to the top of the castle each day, taking no prisoners with cries of “make way for the Queen’s guard!” and forcing tourists to dive for cover.
Cpl Pawson speaks for us all when he says “none of us joined to be guardsmen but it’s de nitely been an experience that we’ve all enjoyed this week. It was always good when you could see Her Majesty in the corner of your eye, peering down as we paraded.”
2Lt Charlie Davis, OC 8 Pl
SLIPPERY PAVING STONES SENT ONE RIFLEMAN SPRAWLING
Sjt Kavangh inspects the guard
Band of the Scots with the Bugles
The Bugle Major supervises procedings
THE RIFLES
THIRD BATTALION 79