Changing of the Guard Tours London
Our guides run the Changing of the Guard four times a week, and the same questions come up on every tour. Whether the guards are real soldiers. Whether the rifles are real. Whether the hats are genuinely bear fur. Below are the answers we give standing on the pavement, rather than the ones copied between websites.
If you are planning a visit rather than settling an argument, the essentials are these. The ceremony is free to watch and happens at Buckingham Palace at 11am, most often on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, with a separate parade on Sundays. It begins earlier and further up the road than most people expect, at St James’s Palace at around 10.40am. That one fact is why so many visitors arrive at the Palace gates at a quarter to eleven and find every position along the railings already three deep.
Full detail on each of those sits on its own page: times and schedule, where to watch and how early to arrive, and the Sunday Parade.
The questions below are the ones we are asked most, roughly in the order they tend to come up.
There are various options. You can either wait at the gates of Buckingham Palace (but get there early!), or choose a spot on the Mall or near the Queen Victoria memorial and wait for the guards to march past. But to have a great overview of the ceremony, and stand in all the best spots, it is best to join one of our Changing the Guard tours!
There are 775 rooms in Buckingham Palace. That includes 19 State Rooms, 52 royal and guest bedrooms, 188 staff bedrooms, 92 offices and 78 bathrooms.
The soldiers ages vary, with many being in their late teens and early twenties. The youngest soldiers are 17.
Yes, they are soldiers who also serve as front line combat units in conflict zones. They provide a ceremonial service for a period, usually at the start of their military careers.
Yes, the weapons they carry are SA80s, the same assault rifles used when serving overseas.
The King’s Guard are providing the first line of security for the Royal family and Royal Palaces, so it is a role with high responsibility. As such, it is not appropriate to laugh or smile while on duty.
Yes. The hats worn by soldiers are made from Canadian Black Bear fur, while the officers wear Canadian Brown Bear. The British Army have trialled synthetic material but don’t currently consider this to be a practical alternative.
For about six months of the year the King’s Guard wear thick grey wool coats, known as Great Coats, in place of the scarlet tunics. The reason is practical rather than ceremonial: sentry duty means long periods standing still outdoors, and the Great Coat keeps soldiers warm through the winter. Everything else about the ceremony is unchanged, and the bearskin cap stays on, so the guards are still easy to recognise. The scarlet tunics return in the warmer months.
Changing the Guard is a historic event in London where soldiers from the King’s Guard Household Division known as the Old Guard are relieved of their by soldiers known as the New Guard. They are joined by musicians as they march between the palaces and barracks where they are stationed.
The ceremony occurs in the Royal Quarter of London. Guards will march between three principal locations – St James Palace, Wellington Barracks and Buckingham Palace
In summer months, tens of thousands of tourists observe the ceremony.
The whole ceremony takes around 1 hour from start to finish. The Old Guard emerge from St James Palace at around 10.40am, and the New Guard complete the ceremony at around 11.40am.
If the rain is heavy, or the forecast is for rain, the British Army may decide to curtail the ceremony. On such occasions, there will be a ‘Wet Change’ where the soldiers wear light overcoats and march without the ceremonial band. They will also protect their regimental flag (the ‘colour’), and guard movements will vary. However, sometimes the full ceremony goes ahead in the rain, and the decision to curtail the ceremony is usually made at the very last minute.
There is much conjecture that the red (scarlet) tunics hides blood when a soldier was injured on the battlefield. However, the actual reason is that red dye was widely available and affordable when the decision to wear the same colour was made in the 17th century.
This is a new addition to London’s ceremonial calendar, introduced in April 2025. Much like Changing the Guard, this event involves foot guards, marching, music, and occurs in the same area. The main difference is that the Sunday Parade celebrates the role of the Colour (regimental flag) and involves one regiment of guard rather than the usual two.
More: the Sunday Parade explained.
Changing the Guard occurs three times a week, on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Although the section at Buckingham Palace is at 11am, the event begins at St James Palace at around 10.40am. On Sundays there is an event called the Sunday Parade – similar to the Changing the Guard, but with important differences.
The ceremony has been modified greatly during the past few centuries, but it can trace its history back to the restoration of the monarchy in 1660 when King Charles II brought his personal bodyguard – known as the Life Guard – with him to London.
Our guides field questions for two hours straight on every tour, and no two groups ask the same things. If you would rather watch the ceremony with someone who can answer as it happens, the Changing the Guard tour runs four times a week from £17. There is more on the ceremony itself in our full Changing of the Guard guide.
