This is the story of Her Majesty's Household Division from 1969 to 2023. It is the biography of a family of three generations of soldiers who have served Crown and Country during a period of significant social and geostrategic change.
The Guards established an ascendancy in the Peninsular War and at the Battle of Waterloo and in the words of the military historian, Allan Mallinson, ‘They have never truly faltered since.’ They have done so by changing when change was needed. Her Majesty's Household Division is a national institution. It is admired by the public through its mastery of ceremonial and the magnificent hour that is Trooping the Colour. It is respected throughout the army for its fighting ability. Unlike many other parts of the army, the Household Division has escaped cuts and its value to the army and to the nation remains undiminished. This is not a traditional regimental history. It is the story of a family of seven regiments (The Life Guards, Blues and Royals, Grenadier, Coldstream, Scots, Irish and Welsh Guards) which symbolise the Union of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
The book wil narrate how the Household Division has evolved and adapted to a changing Britain and the long 'Recessional' from being a global power. It starts in 1969 with the beginning of The Troubles in Northern Ireland. The Household Division played a full part in the retaking of the Falklands in 1982, the fortieth anniversary of which is this year. There followed: the Balkans and the Kosovo crisis; the late 20th century ‘Raj’ known as the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR); Gulf War 1 and 2 and, most poignantly, Afghanistan. It also addresses, for the first time, the profound social changes in Britain since the late 1960s and how the Household Division has met those changes. The book is an authorised history, commissioned by the Major General Commanding The Household Division and its Trustees. It will therefore have full access to primary sources, people, regimental diaries and archives.