Within the British Army, the Grenadier Guards are one of five infantry regiments of the Sovereign's Household Guard (Household Division). The Cavalry of the Guard being made up of the Horse Guards of the Household Cavalry Regiment, created by the amalgamation of the Life Guards and the Blues and Royals.
It is the first regiment of the infantry of the Guard - the Royal Foot Guards - which has comprised five regiments to one battalion since 1992:
The Grenadier Guards come from the regiment of Lord Wentworth, raised in 1656, in charge of the close guard of King Charles II then in exile in Belgium. The current name dates from 1877.
The Coldstream Guards, Second Regiment of Guards.
The Scots Guards, Scottish Guards, Third Regiment of Guards.
The Irish Guards, Irish Guards, Fourth Guards Regiment.
The Welsh Guards, Welsh Guards, Fifth Guards Regiment.
The first three regiments have an additional company which takes up the colors and traditions of the 2nd battalions which disappeared during the 1992 reform (N°2 Company, 2nd Bn Grenadier Guards (renamed Nijmegen Company), N° 7 Company, 2nd Bn Coldstream Guards and F Company, 2nd Bn Scots Guards). These three companies based at Chelsea Barracks in London are responsible for ceremonial and building security.
Their famous uniform includes a red tunic and a black bearskin cap (bearskin for officers) adopted in 1831. It was borrowed from the foot grenadiers of Napoleon I's Imperial Guard, defeated at Waterloo in 1815. Thinking of having defeated a regiment of grenadiers of the guard, it changed its name in 1815 thus becoming the "Grenadier Guards". In reality, the regiment had defeated the chasseurs of the 3rd chasseurs and those of the 4th chasseurs.
The guards are differentiated by the color of the cap aigrette, the number and alignment of the buttons, as well as the collar insignia and the epaulets:
Grenadier:white plume on the left and buttons with regular spaces (because 1st infantry regiment),
Coldstream:red plume on the right and buttons grouped in pairs (because of the 2nd regiment),
Scottish:no plume and buttons grouped by 3 (because 3rd regiment),
Irish:blue plume on the right and buttons grouped by 4 (because 4th regiment),
Welsh:green and white plume on the left and buttons grouped by 5 (because 5th regiment).
The 1st Company of the Grenadier Guards Regiment forms the Queen's (King's) Own Company. Today in the service of Queen Elizabeth II.
Queen Elizabeth II, then Princess, received the honorary title of Colonel-in-Chief of the Grenadier Guards on 24 February 1942. This is the highest appointment a member of the Royal Family can receive from a regiment. Prince Philip of Edinburgh is its colonel.