Pillars of Monarchy - Outline of Political and Social History of Royal Guards, 1400-1984 0704324245

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PILLARS OF MONARCHY AN OUTLINE OF THE POLITICAL AND SOCIAL HISTORY OF ROYAL GUARDS 1400-1984 PHILIP MANSEL

QUARTET BOOKS LONDON MELBOURNE NEW YORK

First published by Quartet Books Limited 1984 A member of the Namara Group 27/29 Goodge Street, London W1P lFO Copyright© 1984 by Philip Mansel British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Mansel, Philip Pillars of monarchy. 1. Great Britain. Army. Household Division-History I. Title 335.3'1'0941 UA649.5 ISBN 0-7043-2424-5 Typeset by M.C. Typeset, Chatham Printed and bound in Great Britain

CONTENTS Acknowledgements List of Illustrations Preface Introduction 1 1 The Rise of Royal Guards, to 1730 23 2 Royal Guards under Attack, 1730-89 3 The Golden Age of Royal Guards, 1789-1830 33 4 The Survival of Royal Guards, 1830-1984 55 5 The Composition of Royal Guards 73 6 Instruments of Power 83 123 7 Guards and Revolutions 8 Life in the Guards 143 157 9 Splendour 167 Conclusion 169 Notes Sources and Bibliography 184 199 Index

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS F

IRST I WOULD like to thank all those who were kind and patient enough lo give me inter­ views, whose names are listed on page 198. I would also like to thank Terence Benton, Antonia Burrows, John Cambridge, Caroline Davidson, the late Gerald de Gaury, Ghislain de Diesbach, J. Dolinski, Captain N.S. Egelien, Charles Esdaile, the late F. Frearson, Godfrey Goodwin, Donna Hole, Bill Johnson, Deniz Kiliger, Dr C. Kuguk, Professor Y.T. Kural, Nicholas Lynn, Colonel Meakin, Colonel Minkiewicz, Boris Mollo, Gail Mooney, Tim Oldroyd, the staff of the Soviet Studies Research Centre, Sandhurst, and Mrs Storey for their help in the research and writing of this book. I am particularly grateful to Major Peter Hunter for his help with research. I would like to thank the British Academy for the grant which enabled me to continue the research for this book. Lastly I would like to thank the staff of the British Library, London Library, Bibliotheque Nationale and Archives Nationales, without whom this book could not hHve been written.

LIS T OF ILLUS TRATIONS COLOUK !'I.ATES

The Adoration of the Magi Passage of Louis XIV across the Pont Neuf Charles II Walking in Whitehall The Lateran-Council Catherine [I onHorseback The Entry of Isabel la of Parma into Vienna An Officer of the Chasseurs a Cheval of the Garde Imperiale Second Life Guards Band Parade in Palace Square, St Petersburg for the Unveiling of the Alexander I Column Trooping the Colour Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Presenting the Shamrock to the Irish Guards Her Majesty the Queen leaving Buckingham Palace Bl.ACK ANO WIIITE ILI.IJSTKATIONS

Cortege of Charles V and Clement V[I at the Coronation of Charles V in Bologna Procession of Suleiman the Magnificent through Constantinople Charles ll's State Entry into London The Entry of William of Orange into London The Duke of Gloucester Drilling his Company of Child Guards Le Janissaire Polonais Charles X[I of Sweden Peter the Great at the Battle of Poltava Frederick II Reviewing the Foot Guard Regiment Review of the Gardes Franc,;aises and the Gardes Suisses on the Plaine des Sablons Count Armfelt Godoy in the Uniform of the Guardias de Corps View of the Grand Parade in front of the Winter Palace Review by General Bonaparte, First Consul The Adieux of Fontainebleau Chacun son Tour, ou la Fin du Roman Parade in Paris The Changing of the Guard Uniform of the Schlossgarde Illustration of a Roll of Names ofHassa Officers Parade before the Winter Palace Guards of the Shah of Persia Frederick William 111, Frederick William IV and William I of Prussia William II lnstals Prince Oskar of Prussia in the First Foot Guards Nicholas II andHis Children at the Fete de l'Escorte The Oman Royal Guard at the National Day Celebrations

Two Saudi Royal Guards Sultan Mohammed V Reviewing the Moroccan Royal Guard The Noble Guard of the Papacy The Ottoman Imperial Guard at a Selamlik Review of the Circassian Escort in St Pete·rsburg Review of the Tsar's Guard Cossacks at Tsarskoe Seloe Circassian Guards of the King of Jordan The Mutiny in the Ottoman Imperial Guard The Empress Elizabeth onHorseback Peter Ill Count G.G. Orlov Potemkin The Future Paul I Count von cler Pahlen The Decembrist Revolt Charles IV as Colonel of the Guarclias de Corps General Jose de Palafox The 19 March at Aranjuez The Murder of the Due de Guise The Murder of the Marechal cl 'Ancre The Departure of Louis XV after the Lit de Justice Halte-la! La Garde Royale est la! Gustavus Ill in the Royal Palace of Stockholm The Degradation of the Foot Guards by Gustavus IV The Murder of Axel von Fersen CP.remony of the Laying of the Foundation-Stone of the Church of Sainte-Genevieve The Attack in Broad Street The Taking of the Bastille by the Bourgeois and the Braves Gardes Fran