At Buckingham Palace, first changing of the guard since the start of the pandemic

The Changing of the Guard ceremony, an old and famous tradition linked to the British royal family, resumed on Monday for the first time since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in front of London’s Buckingham Palace.

Show interrupted since the start of the pandemic

This colorful military spectacle, which usually takes place every day in front of the royal residence, was interrupted about a year and a half ago to avoid attracting crowds of tourists during the lockdown.

Wearing their scarlet tunics and famous bear hair hats, soldiers of the New Guard marched from Wellington Barracks, located near the palace, to the Queen’s residence on Monday to take over from the old guard.

“We had to wait so long,” said Garrison Sergeant Major Andrew Stokes, in charge of the big comeback of the ceremony, “it took a lot of work and preparation to live up to it. “

A first for some soldiers

Monday’s ceremony was for some soldiers who recently joined the army their very first relief. The 95-year-old sovereign was not there to observe them – spending as often the summer a few weeks in her Scottish residence in Balmoral – but dozens of tourists gathered to enjoy the spectacle.

For this comeback with great fanfare, the guard’s marching band played several selected arias “in tribute to the success” of British athletes at the Olympic Games, said Sergeant-Major Andrew Stokes. Normally, up to 20,000 tourists come to see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace every day, said the non-commissioned officer.

Similar ceremony had resumed in July at Windsor Palace

A similar ceremony carried out at Windsor Palace, a residence located about forty kilometers from London and where the queen spent her confinement, had already resumed in July.

The Changing of the Guard originally took place outside Whitehall Palace, the official London residence of the British sovereign until 1689. It subsequently moved, following the Court, to St. James’s Palace.

After Queen Victoria’s move to Buckingham Palace in 1837, the guard remained in St. James, but a detachment was sent to guard Buckingham. It is now there that the main ceremony takes place.