Guarding The Queen Episode 1

In their red tunics and bearskin caps, the Grenadier Guards are the most famous soldiers in the world changing the guard outside Buckingham Palace. They constantly strive for ceremonial perfection, but they are also frontline soldiers in the world's most dangerous war zones. For the first time we are behind. The scenes at the Royal Palaces to show how the pride of protecting the Queen and the sacrifice of war combined to create a unique soldier The Grenadier Guards Windsor Castle The Queen is holding a party tonight The Grenadier Guards will not They will protect the Queen because she invited them to celebrate her three hundred and fiftieth anniversary.

Colonel Carew is very much the commanding officer and the proudest man in the room. We are carrying out 350 years of service to the monarchy, he is part of the living fabric of the nation and he is a kind of Magister that you put on tonight for us, it will be a good night, crackling night. No regiment in the British Army is more proud of its traditions than the Grenadier. They have been the last line of defense around the monarch for 350 years since the Civil War. This sense of tradition extends from its colonel, the Duke of Edinburgh, to the younger officers.

The enormity of the traditions he represents can only elevate man by man. Our guys are better at what they do because they appreciate what it means, not just. being a soldier serving in the british army which is an amazing thing but being a beneficiary does but not all grenadiers are invited to the party get out your notebooks and shut up 500 miles north captain ollie daugherty is leading a platoon of guards in formation on Their final exercise, six days fighting the enemy and the elements in the Scottish Highlands. Yes, the weather is gloomy. Yes, there will be fog.

Yes, there will be humidity. Okay, okay, but this is the climax of your course, as far as I'm concerned, keep it up. and maintain your discipline on the battlefield Only in Beirut, it is good luck to measure the enemy below. Whatever you destroy, each recruit has undergone nearly six months of basic training in hopes of joining one of the five infantry guard regiments. Stephen Cooper is one of the 13 Grenadiers. who started the course at the end of the training there are only four left for the last four last I have been sleeping under the trees and it is supposed to rain there because of all the war going on, that is probably because a lot of people left those creators There are products which are pretty close to being doing how to push your bodies forever when you start to feel pain in them.

If they can survive two more grueling days, they will finally be able to call themselves Grenadier Guards. Tell me a story. You are nervous. destroy those words for better days in Afghanistan, yes, peak with Cooper, right, James, there is no water in the safe; Well, they will join the ceremonial soldiers of the Grenadiers who live at Wellington Barracks, in the heart of London, and wearing the famous bear skins, they will stand guard outside. Buckingham Palace is a world of royal pomp and tourism feels like a fairy tale. I think it sounds like a Disney pervert's world and the soundtrack to this experience is provided by another part of the Grenadiers family, the legendary band of the Grenadier Guards, without a state occasion. would be complete without them and no one is prouder of them than Regimental Adjutant Conway Seymour of all the world's great heroes, therefore none that can compare with the tar rah rah rah rah rah rah of the British and death who has been a grenadier for 42 years. today welcomes new musicians to the regiment during their 12 weeks of military training.

They have learned too much as soldiers. Do you know how lucky you are? Yes, sir, you're joining the best band on the bridge. Oh, and there are standards you must meet. I have to keep I'm delighted to have you in the band. It is a very close-knit and happy group of men and girls. Welcome and good luck. Musician Abby Davis is only the fifth woman to join the band. Her first challenge is to find her room. I think this is the right case, but it's never the same Rainey, oh that's good. Look at the pallets, they are much larger, not unlike a proper military camp.

You see all these military vehicles everywhere. I wasn't used to seeing them when I told my friends I was joining the army. most of them just laughed. I didn't think I'd make it but definitely the music, yeah I really enjoy it so I can't wait to start playing and soon Abbey joins her first band rehearsal under the watchful eye of band sergeant major Kevin. bird, I think for any musician coming into this environment it will be a challenge when they audition, first of all they are expected to be at a certain level, they will go through basic training and then they come to us so they can be anything. 18 months to two years of training before reaching the band before long Abbey will have to combine playing with marching changing guards outside Buckingham Palace Catterick Camp North Yorkshire the guard training depot six months ago 60 guards in formation started basic training here now Stephen Cooper and the remaining 32 returned tomorrow from the final exercise in Scotland.

His passing out parade feels like he's adding a jail sentence, almost please, probably one more clip because I think it's good. I finally like it. doing something that creates a problem and 14 glorious cold sunny days, you should be extremely proud of what you have achieved and when you look your section commander and patoot staff in the eyes tomorrow and want to look them in the eye, shake their hands and Thank you very much for everything you have done for me. His work has transformed you into the man you are today. You have done very well to get here.

I wish you all the best of luck. Our operations in 2007, well done, gentlemen. Luckily, they may have completed the training, but there is still time for one last rehearsal. Oh yes, of course, yes. I thought the reason you lost your step was because of the modules in the center and down here you will have your thighs parallel to the ground. grab your arms and listen to the pitch tomorrow all eyes will be on them, but rehearsal hasn't gone well, you can't afford to do that standard now Hall vision, we won't take it in the guards, it's not good enough, understand me, understand it.

I, the trainee guard, now have just 16 hours until they pass out on parade in Yorkshire, after 26 weeks of arduous basic training, the day of the pass out parade has arrived and trainee guard, Stephen Cooper, is receiving help tie his tie, his family has returned. they come out strong and are bursting with pride there is her mother, her mother's boyfriend and her little sister Zoe Saturn rule only Doherty still adheres to the traditional belief that a glass of port before an important show is the best vocal warm up for Olli it's a proud day six months of effort and his boys are immaculate unlike him, if you go out thinking I'm going to show off, I'm going to enjoy this, it's going to be crazy, okay, ignore what happened yesterday at rehearsal .

I would rather have a little bit of a string rehearsal and you have a fantastic parade and in my experience a string rehearsal II equals a fantastic parade, we can only go in one direction from yesterday. He was crying when two pieces didn't really think that the army had taken him because he was a little bit he was a wild child. At one point he started to stray down the wrong path, but I never do. He has changed a lot. He has matured in just two weeks. Stephen and the other new recruits are coming to London, but new band member Abbey is just a stone's throw away.

Before them, today is the day she will do her first changing of the guard outside Buckingham Palace. It's time for her to play her instrument in front of a large crowd while she marches and wears a bear skin. It is a job that comes with her own unique set of potential. dangers, you need to see where you are going and not only that, you need to be able to read your music, drop your music, lose your mouthpiece, stand around the parts, she has an iron stand for her for quite a while, the whole thing, from beginning to end. finish, we're looking at about two hours, it may be Abi's first changing of the guard today, but for the company commander it will be the last for the last 14 months, Major Marcus Elliot Square has commanded his ceremonial company and when the grenadier tsar on guard, that means you can enjoy the splendid officers' mess at st.

James's Palace, but it's taking its toll, it used to be eggs benedict, but time goes by and as you get older you can't afford to eat eggs benedict every morning, not good for bodyboarding, eggs on toast with tabasco, Markus is a The point of exchanging ceremonial duties for a much more difficult task in Afghanistan today is the last time he will lead the changing of the guard is one of those fishbowl moments when everyone in the civilian world looks and sees the British Army and something that is for excellence is quintessentially British but there is a chance they won't be able to see it this morning, it's raining and there's nothing the band hates more than rainy situations.

A decision will be made in the next 20 minutes as to whether we go ahead with the full changing of the guard, singing or dancing. At Buckingham Palace, the tourists, the Abbey guards and the band, and even Marcus, are all waiting for a decision to fall to the approaching guard regiment. The decision was made. A little rain won't rain on Marcus's final parade and Abby will be able to make her debut after 24. Hours of guard Marcus proudly leads his grenadiers into the palace courtyard to hand over the guard for the last time, the last time He shouts his orders and then they leave through James's Park back to the barracks and out of the rain. leaving tourists disheveled but happy.

I thought the word has not been pleasant today, but one cannot complain, yes, the last, the last for a while, unless it is part of our job to teach the Afghan army. Queens has numerous telephones. Calls are no doubt being made at the moment to the brigade major and the music directors complaining about the fact that they have had to play in the rain in 12 weeks. Marcus will be in Afghanistan and Wellington Barracks will be a distant memory after passing out. Guards Stephen Cooper are on leave at his home in the Midlands. This is romantic all year round.

Six months of basic training has transformed him into a proud grenadier. He also got most of the leaders from there. We are at the moment when I saw my life. The boy knows me. He is only a few days away. to protect the Queen, but he was usually just another boy who got into trouble with the police. He used to have a lot of trouble getting to the center quickly. It was people. He bothers me. It was yours. He used to get in trouble because of my anger in the south. I have calmed down a lot even though I got divorced, few problems.

You have seen that Sanya violent at one point because he took violence literally. No, they talked about it. No, but there are no teachers. Did you behave and say you did it? He has a bad temper and had very little fuse, but he has learned to control that it is actually your determination because if you didn't want to do it, you definitely wouldn't have done it. Chris is that Stephen's stubborn determination is about to end. take him to London to the very heart of British ceremonial life and also join a company is his new boss, Major Torold Youngman Sullivan, who has just returned from Iraq, the officers' mess is in James Palace, he is a world away away from what Stephen Cooper can expect to find when he gets here everywhere you look, there are bits of tradition and history and little touches, every bit of silver you look at, this is supposed to be one of his Napoleonic chargers, whose Merengues helmet is used as a snuff bowl holder at the moment but everywhere look this was submitted by let me see roll Marines if the Duke of York and Albany's Maritime Regiment of Foot I am responsible for the Queen's Guard I have a detachment and an officer in charge at the Tower of London I have a detachment and officer based here in St James's and detachment and lost based at Buckingham Palace, but I enjoy Windsor Castle, to be honest, for 48 hours we will provide ceremonial security and non-ceremonial in conjunction with the police for the three palaces and while we are on guard we are very very well looked after here, but we are not allowed to leave.

All the women have to leave James Palace at 8 o'clock so you can entertain, but you can't go anywhere while Torold enjoys his golden cage. The four new guards have to introduce themselves. to their London barracks for these guys it's a whole new world turning other koalas into it. I have you in Times Square than you. What else happened? Yes, I want to see some of this. I have practice at the window. Hey, what's that, ha ha, does it use bacon? beer pie 7:45 some bangers and mash six puns 75 fish and chips having left this is the room the four of you will share while at Wellington Barracks the lastoccupants haven't done them any favors most of the money is good I really like the next one in the morning is a quick guided tour of the barracks from the mess of sergeant officers from their platoon on our right to the science mess okay center Gorham Gym medical and dental, do you know where we are now?

Questions for the happy good, I suppose, but the most daunting prospect of his first In the morning we will meet his new bosses, the company's major and sergeant major, Steve Monroe. Thank you, major. Welcome to the Nijmegen company. I hope they stay in shape. I hope that your participation is impeccable and your behavior at all times. They are all young. guys and we expect a lot from you, you are guards now, there is no turning off the tap, you will always be in the British Army 24/7, welcome to the Grenadier family, it is a fantastic family and I look forward to meeting you. you during the following months, sir matcha monkeys, while prohibition and one hundred and twenty grenadiers put on a show for tourists in front of Buckingham Palace, the six hundred remaining men in the regiment look to the future. their next mission that will take them to Afghanistan welcome to the new guards battle group plan four months is not much time for us to prepare for what promises to be a crunchy and emotional pre-tour, so Colonel Carew is very much the commanding officer of his men.

They have just returned from Iraq and now, in the quickest turnaround the British infantry has attempted so far, he has just four months to prepare them to fight the Taliban in the most dangerous corner of Afghanistan. He will train the Third Brigade of the Afghan National Army. This is what we hope for. make a Briton help an Afghan fight the war, but in the case of extremists, everyone must be prepared to do that too. While the Afghans are now watching the British fight the war, they try to make the training as realistic as possible, but the English weather doesn't help, we're going to be a seemingly desert land or whatever.

We're here among the trees in Norfolk in December, so you couldn't get much more different if you really tried to make it your workout. relevant to their role in Afghanistan, they brought in some genuine Afghans to help them learn to fight using interpreters. They also helped the grenadier resolve any linguistic or cultural problems that might arise. We will show the Ak-47. The training ranges from technician to diplomat maybe if I could command from a little further back he is the most important man here a man of his importance if I could make a suggestion I just want to watch him so that he doesn't get sidetracked and do his thing after a year of protecting Buckingham Palace and all the great food that comes with it Marcus and Square have a big challenge board to clear the area of ​​any suspected Taliban.

He has joined the Grenadiers. He is preparing for Afghanistan on an exercise in Northumberland. He will soon be fighting for real, but. He's already finding it difficult, it's certainly been a shock to the system. My wife said that I have been spoiled for 40 years in the company in Nijmegen and, returning to the battalion, the system has suffered a greater shock than I could have imagined. We previously imagined that it would be obvious, since we can hear a bit of cold. Marcus is leading his platoon on an assault across open countryside. The exercise has to be as realistic as possible.

That means using real bullets. The assault begins. Everyone is shooting live. ammunition, everyone except Marcus with rifle has a journal while Marcus struggles to get his gun working, the squad sergeant takes over, yeah, what have his qualifications been? I mean, attack that target there, the assault on Marcus hits his men. Very tough hardware to get the He may be feeling a little bloated, but tonight he has to lead his entire company on a much more dangerous night assault and keep them away from the deadly firepower of tanks and planes. Oh, it's hot, it's been a hard day and it's going to be an even harder night, the band is also being tested today, they face their annual Army Music Corps exam.

I haven't seen the leadership staff arrive yet and Band Sergeant Major Kevin Byrd has some good last minute starts with confidence. Don't overdo it in the first two ranks, the inspection will put you under the iron eye of Lefty Colonel Stephen Smith, the Army's Senior Director of Music, if he's not happy, you'll be deemed unfit for the job and that would be the last straw. of shame for the gang Conway Seymour watches from his office eager for justice for his gang when our backs rise, it's a moving field, everyone grows six inches tall because you immediately put your shoulders back and your neck in the back back of the necklace I defy any grenadier not to feel proud, but the band's repertoire has to go far beyond marching music.

Next is the classical orchestra section, so far not a hint of a smile from the leftist Colonel Smith, then there is the big band section, still not a hint. from the car and finally the dance bench finally a smile and band sergeant major Kevin Byrd seems confident in the ensemble that has been formed and we have produced some great sounds today so I am very happy and when the inspection report arrives Conway Seymour is once again the proudest man at Wellington Barracks. I have to say that it is the most wonderful report. He says that the band of the Grenadier Guards is considered fully fit to perform its role and that the band is considered fit to continue its ceremonial duties.

The new recruits are preparing to Protect the Queen for the first time and for that they will need a bear skin. No, these are expensive. Don't use them like soccer balls. Although the players' pelts are black, they actually start life as a grizzly bear, which is actually called a form in Canada. from pest control, the reason we all agree that we are Basking's cap is through the steward of Waterloo, where the first foot guards defeated the French imperial guard and when they were murdered, they then stole the cap from Basking and then there's the jacket. In summer they will wear the famous scarlet tunics, but in winter they wear grey: fantastic coats, the whole outfit costing over two thousand pounds per man.

They then take their first clumsy steps to stand guard outside the palace, but there's a lot to learn from that. many men in training for Afghanistan the Grenadier Ceremonial Company is at full capacity so the new recruits will have to learn quickly Company Sergeant Major Steve Monroe has just seven days to get them in shape before they take their place in front of thousands of spectators for the changing of the guard, you know the constant training and you are not doing what Steve is a legend in the drill field, but he is also a sergeant major with a guilty secret.

I hate instruction with a passion, I hate it absolutely, you won't get away With that, no matter how much I imagine it, I think the way should never be to let kids know you don't like it, and as far as they're concerned, I sleep in a drilling equipment and I can't get enough, but I'm close to a coma when I say stop and then you go back to grabbing your dress an arm's length from your right eye like Leo Sayer. More than true, do you have a free ticket to McDonald's? Well, come back, you have to be impassive, never leave them.

I know how much you painted it, it was bad, but that was the Specter spirit because he just took this on with the Jewish grant, he told us to do it while I was in what's going on. The time has come for Major Marcus Elliot to take on the toughest form of him. He tries, but he has to lead his company in a night assault using live ammunition. The rest of the regiment has been preparing for this since last year, but Marcus has just rejoined them after his stint as a ceremonial soldier and deployment to Afghanistan is fast approaching. catch up quickly it's cold it's dark and he's being closely watched by his boss the colonel he knows that all these guys are cold they're a little tired from having been fighting all day and get in line.

I'm at home, I get a ton of information and he has to sift through it almost instantly, figure out what's relevant to him and then act on it now, maybe I found 50 other makers or pies this way. Marcus orders his men to advance and receive the signal. I support, everyone will open up, that's the signal and they will come in with tracer bullets flying just above their heads. Marcus did very well tonight, really impressive. I didn't have to go in there at all and say, come on, let's move, get up. there and I'm happy that I don't need to drive them anymore.

They are handling themselves quite well. It's been a good workout for Marcus and his men, but in just six weeks the bullets will be flying in both directions, the time has come. for Stephen Cooper and the other new recruits to finally take their place on guard duty outside Buckingham Palace. I'm just trying to straighten out the King because without twisting my training, so they'll tell me the way I do it is wrap you in a towel and slap him on the butt. Stephen Cooper's mother and his little sister, Zoe, traveled there for the big day. They didn't sleep much last night and for Stephen it's a bad start.

His tweeds are in danger of falling, boys, into my trees. a mission where my braces came off and I didn't even notice this morning here, well, little football toy soldier, so they're probably going to be a little nervous, it's also pretty windy out there, which has another dimension as to whether Caps Are Going to Fly or not, well, we had a lot of things to think about. I think you'll probably feel overall a bit like a rabbit caught in the headlights. Girls playing all the chicken coops of Blues Gaza. Five-year session. of the Queen's Guard said he thought of the tweets of him, those are the tweets of him, sir, are you wearing braces?

I said no, he removed the monitor from this monitor and you just lost the square foot in an hour, what's Cooper's name, Mr. Gordon Cooper, bad order? Mr Azen Cooper bad smells it wasn't Cooper's battle the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace always attracts tourists and forced the band to entertain them while they wait for the ceremony to begin it's a special day for Stephen but the drum major retires all stops for a different reason standing next to me today is the state drum major two wearing her state clothes the reason she wears her state clothes is because she is the countess of wessex her birthday royal birthdays and promotions the drum majors wear your stake better or suggest The British Army Steve and Cooper may have problems with their tweets, but this won't stop them from setting up their first guard in Queens.

Tourists may have no idea what it means, but changing the guard is the most polished and practiced military ritual, and the British. Every armed order, every step has been refined over centuries by thousands of guards who have guarded the Royal Palaces since 1660. It is an elaborate display of force and discipline, but what is happening is very simple: a group of guards have marched since their backs to replace another in the front. famous century boxes outside the palace I just hope he's taking it all in and this is what it is today I felt this full I know Stephen is probably thinking on board now let me act the new recruits go straight to sentry duty every 15 minutes during the Next two hours they will march 10 yards, turn around and come back, other than that they just have to stay put, but Stephen Cooper's debut will not take place at Buckingham Palace, he will join a small detachment coming down from the shopping center to some James's Palace, where he will be part of the security for Prince Charles and Princes William and Harry, it is the only guard post that is completely open to close public scrutiny and which includes his mother and his little sister Zoe, happy that it is not. muscles down there and smile phenomena the next time the Grenadiers go all out for a VIP guest, the march toward war accelerates and Conway Cemal bids farewell to his beloved regime.