The Household Cavalry Foundation is the official charity for the Household Cavalry.
The Foundation provides charitable and pastoral support – Duty of Care – 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, which are the British Army’s senior regiments – 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.
During the 2nd World War, 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 – a surname shared with John Le Carre’s hero) who led 1953’s Coronation Parade. Another Blue (Laycock) led Britain’s Commandos and Special Service Brigade.
Since the amalgamation of the Royal Horse Guards (The Blues) and the 1st (Royal) Dragoons 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 Heads of State, 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”.
Duty of Care 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 on public donations. All funds go to our five charitable areas: serving soldiers, operational casualties, veterans and dependants; and our heritage and 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 / +44(0)207 839 4858
(Charity Commission Number 1151869. Company Number 08236363)
