Mark Mason has narrated this article for you to listen to.
Will they never learn? The signs are very clear: ‘Beware! Horses may kick or bite.’ Yet last week a woman became the latest tourist to get a shock at Horse Guards, when the animal she was fussing suddenly turned its head and bit her arm. She was unhurt, but you can see why the animals occasionally lose their rag. They’re there to protect the monarch, after all. Sending a gentle message once in a while can’t do any harm.
This small patch on Whitehall is where the King’s Life Guard do their thing because it’s still classed as the official entrance to Buckingham Palace. The building also used to house the office of the commander-in-chief of the British Army. Prince Frederick (the ‘Grand Old Duke of York’) and Wellington both worked there; the latter’s coffin rested in the room the night before his funeral. These days the ground floor is home to the excellent Household Cavalry Museum, where you’ll find the wooden leg used by the Earl of Uxbridge after his real one was hit by a cannon ball at Waterloo. ‘By God sir, I’ve lost my leg!’ he cried. ‘By God sir, so you have!’ replied Wellington.
Look closely at the clock on top of the building and you’ll see the stone underneath the two (marked as ‘ten’ – the face spells out minutes rather than hours) has a black dot on it. This is said to commemorate the time of Charles I’s execution on 30 January 1649, outside the Banqueting Hall over the road.
