英国皇家禁卫队Queen's Guard
禁卫军的历史可追溯到1656年。当时英格兰的查尔斯二世流放荷兰，在那里募编了一小队护卫，后并入1660年复辟后征集的禁卫团。1661年圣瓦伦丁节，奥利佛·克伦威尔于1650年成立的原护国公禁卫兵团在伦敦塔山被改编为君王的“非常禁卫队”。由于队伍从特威德河畔贝里克附近的冷溪开来，便得了冷溪禁卫队的称号。它的座右铭是“无与匹敌”，这足以表明它无视第一禁卫团—掷弹兵禁卫团的优先地位。
第一禁卫团建立过光辉的战绩，曾在滑铁卢战役中击败了拿破仑的掷弹禁卫军，从此戴上了熊皮头饰。不过后来整个禁卫旅全都戴上了熊皮头饰。
意思大致是，保护宫廷内部的，禁止为外部使用的主要是护卫功能，而不是战争功能的优秀士兵的队伍。
英国皇家卫队，是英军陆军中的精锐部队。通常只有皇家卫队才能首先装备最新的作战装备和武器，英军最新武器会首先装备皇家卫队，然后才能轮到其他部队。英国皇家卫队的着装永远是那不变的猩红色紧身短上衣，以及那顶高高的熊皮帽.
英国正规的皇家警卫部队是在17世纪下半叶，也就是资产阶级革命以后出现的。当时迁居国外的国王查理二世回国后组建了一支精锐的步兵团和骑兵团，来做为自己的警卫部队。从此以后，这些部队就成为了皇家军队的核心。 1815年，英国皇家卫队在滑铁卢会战中打败了法国的老牌卫队，并因此开始戴纪念战争胜利的熊皮帽，来彰显自己的作战能力比拿破仑军队强。英国皇家卫队那身一年四季不变的猩红色紧身短上衣，以及那顶高高的熊皮帽子给许多人留下了深刻印象。 皇家卫队属英国陆军系列，分为骑兵和步兵两部分。骑兵约有1500人，共分3个团，分别是“国王禁卫团”、“国王蓝色团”和王宫仪仗骑兵团；步兵约5000人，编为1个步兵师，下属8个步兵营。除此之外，在皇家装甲坦克部队中有4个皇家卫队团。
英国皇家卫队的士兵从各地陆军选拔出来，然后被安排到皇家仪仗队位于白金汉宫附近的军营中受训。
这些新兵每天除了跑步、射击训练之外，还需要学会使用各种攻击火炮，擅长骑术。身高体重要求“孪生兄弟”一样整齐划一，而且长相俊朗，声音洪亮，充分体现英国的军人风貌。 卫兵们还有厚重的军装铠甲，以及长长的军靴，仅仅是这套装束就重得让常人走不动路。所以说，想当好一名皇家卫兵，能负重、耐高温是必须具备的素质。
英国皇家卫队的队员头戴熊皮帽子，身着红色制服，宛如古代将官一般雄健。皇家卫兵头戴熊皮高帽有着约200年的历史，这顶高帽象征的是英国强盛的军力。 其实，最早戴这样帽子的是法国士兵，法军当时戴这种熊皮高帽是为了让士兵的个头显得更高，看起来更具威慑力。但在滑铁卢战役击败拿破仑的军队后，英国士兵从1815年起，取而代之开始戴起了熊皮帽，来彰显自己的作战能力比拿破仑军队强。 英国国防部直到2010年，每年都购买大约50顶熊皮帽子。平均每年花费在帽子上的钱就有6万英镑，其中一半的开销是为了买新的，剩下的被用来翻新旧帽子。但由于动物保护组织的不断抗议，英国决定从2011年开始，不再用野生黑熊皮帽子，而以人造皮草代替。
皇家卫队与英国王室保持着特殊的关系。它被认为是英国王室的私人部队，皇室的成员是皇家卫队各团的团长和荣誉上校。英国女王和将继承王位的查尔斯王子和王室的其他成员，经常定期探望卫队各部队，参加各团的典礼和纪念会，并像一家人一样同这些军人及其家属相处。
The Queen's Guard and Queen's Life Guard are the names given to contingents of infantry and cavalry soldiers charged with guarding the official royal residences in London. The British Army has regiments of both Horse Guards and Foot Guards predating the English Restoration (1660), and since the reign of King Charles II these have been responsible for guarding the Sovereign's palaces. They are not purely ceremonial as some may believe, they are real soldiers serving in the army.
The Queen's Guard and Queen's Life Guard is mounted at the royal residences that come under the operating area of the British Army's London District, which is responsible for the administration of the Household Division. This covers Buckingham Palace, St James's Palace and the Tower of London, as well as Windsor Castle. The Queen's Guard is also mounted at the sovereign's other official residence, the Palace of Holyroodhouse, but not as regularly as in London. In Edinburgh, the guard is the responsibility of the resident infantry battalion at Redford Barracks. It is not mounted at the Queen's private residences at Sandringham or Balmoral.
The Queen's Guard is the name given to the contingent of infantry responsible for guarding Buckingham Palace and St. James's Palace (including Clarence House) in London. The guard is made up of a company of soldiers from a single regiment, which is split in two, providing a detachment for Buckingham Palace and a detachment for St James's Palace. Because the Sovereign's official residence is still St James's, the guard commander (called the 'Captain of the Guard') is based there, as are the regiment's colours. When the Sovereign is in residence, the Queen's Guard numbers three officers and 40 other ranks, with four sentries each posted at Buckingham Palace (on the forecourt) and St James's Palace (two at the main entrance in Pall Mall, two in Friary Court). This reduces to three officers and 31 ORs, with two sentries each when the Sovereign is not in residence.[1] The Queen's Guard is not purely ceremonial in nature. They provide sentries during the day and night, and during the latter hours they patrol the grounds of the Palace. Until 1959, the sentries at Buckingham Palace were stationed outside the fence. This stopped following an incident involving a female tourist and a Coldstream Guardsman — due to the continued pestering of tourists and sightseers, the guardsman kicked the tourist on the ankle as he marched. The tourist made a complaint to the police and, despite sympathy, the sentry was confined to barracks for ten days. Not long after, the sentries were moved inside the fence.
