Royal Lancers

The Royal Lancers (Queen Elizabeths' Own) is a cavalry regiment of the British Army. The regiment was formed by an amalgamation of the 9th/12th Royal Lancers (Prince of Wales's) and the Queen's Royal Lancers on 2 May 2015. It serves in the 1st Deep Reconnaissance Strike Brigade Combat Team. The Royal Lancers are part of the 3rd (UK) Division.

The Royal Lancers (Queen Elizabeths' Own)
Badge of the regiment[1]
Active	2 May 2015 – present
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	British Army
Type	Armoured cavalry
Role	Close-quarters combat Reconnaissance Desert warfare Forward observer Manoeuvre warfare Patrolling Raiding Cold-weather warfare Screening Urban warfare
Size	One regiment with four squadrons
Part of	Royal Armoured Corps
Garrison/HQ	RHQ – Prince William of Gloucester Barracks Regiment – Catterick
Nickname(s)	The Death or Glory Boys
Motto(s)	Death or Glory[1]
March	Quick: Wellington Slow: Coburg
Commanders
Colonel-in-Chief	Queen Camilla
Colonel of the Regiment	Gen Sir James Everard
Insignia
Tactical Recognition Flash
Arm Badge	Lances and Prince of Wales's feathers from 9th/12th Royal Lancers
Abbreviation	RL

History

Royal Lancers at the Platinum Jubilee Pageant in June 2022.

It appears that the regimental amalgamation of the 9th/12th Royal Lancers (Prince of Wales's) and the Queen's Royal Lancers was envisaged as part of Army 2020.^[2]

The amalgamation was announced in July 2012, and the regiment was formed with an amalgamation parade before their colonel-in-chief, Queen Elizabeth II, at Richmond Castle on 2 May 2015.^[3][4]

On 5 April 2017, to mark her 70th anniversary as colonel-in-chief of The Royal Lancers and its predecessors, The Queen granted the regiment the honorific suffix "Queen Elizabeths' Own", to recognise their service to Queen Elizabeth II and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother.^[5]

On 8 June 2023, Queen Camilla was appointed colonel-in-chief of the regiment.^[6]

Operational role

The regiment is an Armoured Cavalry Regiment.^[7] Previously equipped with the Scimitar armoured reconnaissance vehicle, it started converting to the Warrior tracked armoured vehicle in 2022.^[1] This was intended to be replaced by the Ajax (Scout SV) from 2019;^[8] however, after considerable delays, British Army trials of the Ajax were paused in the summer of 2021 due to excessive vibration.^[9] The Panther Command and Liaison Vehicle is also currently used.^[1]

The regiment consists of three Sabre Squadrons of sixteen vehicles each and one Command and Support Squadron.^[10] The Royal Lancers forms part of the Royal Armoured Corps.^[10] It is based in Catterick as part of the 12th Armoured Brigade Combat Team, one of the three Armoured Brigade Combat Teams of the 3rd (UK) Division.^[11]

Since 2015, the regiment has deployed soldiers operationally on Operation Elgin (Bosnia / Kosovo),^[12] Operation Tosca (Cyprus),^[13] Operation Orbital (Ukraine), and as part of the NATO Enhanced Forward Presence Battle Group in Poland.^[14]

Colonels-in-Chief

• 2015–2022: HM Queen Elizabeth II^[5]
• 2023–present: HM The Queen LG LT ONZ GCVO GBE CSM CD PC^[6]

Colonels of the Regiment

• 2015–2019: Brigadier Andrew Hughes
• 2019–2024: Col Richard Charrington^[15]
• 2024–present: General Sir James Everard^[16]

Commanding Officers

Regimental Commanding Officers included:^[17]

• 2015–2017: Lt Col Marcus J. Mudd
• 2017–2019: Lt Col Henry L. Searby
• 2019–2021: Lt Col Adam N. B. Foden
• 2021–2023: Lt Col Will J. R. Richmond
• 2023–Present: Lt Col Robin D. Davies

Order of precedence

The regiment retains order of precedence from the more senior antecedent regiment, the 9th/12th Royal Lancers (Prince of Wales's).

Preceded by The Queen's Royal Hussars (The Queen's Own and Royal Irish)

Cavalry Order of Precedence

Succeeded by King's Royal Hussars

Lineage

The Royal Lancers is now the last regiment in the British Army to retain the title of "lancers". It has directly or indirectly inherited the traditions of the six British lancer regiments that were in existence until a series of amalgamations began in 1922.

1881 Childers Reforms	1922 Amalgamations	1990 Options for Change	2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review – today
16th (The Queen's) Lancers	16th/5th The Queen's Royal Lancers	Queen's Royal Lancers	Royal Lancers (Queen Elizabeths' Own)
5th (Royal Irish) Lancers
17th (Duke Of Cambridge's Own) Lancers	17th/21st Lancers
21st (Empress of India's) Lancers
9th (The Queen's Royal) Lancers	9th/12th Royal Lancers (Prince of Wales's) (amalgamated 1960)
12th (Prince Of Wales's Royal) Lancers

Traditions

The Regimental Cap Badge is referred to as the 'Motto' and stands for 'Death or Glory'.^[18]

The historic lance, complete with pennant, is still carried by detachments of the regiment on ceremonial occasions.^[19]

Alliances

•  Canada – Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians)
•  Pakistan – 12th Frontier Force (Sam Browne's Cavalry)
•  Royal Navy – HMS Prince of Wales

References

1. "Who we are: The Royal Lancers (Queen Elizabeths' Own)". www.army.mod.uk. British Army. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
2. Beale, Jonathan (5 July 2012). "Army to lose 17 units amid job cuts". BBC News. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
3. "Queen and Duke of York visit Richmond for amalgamation parade". Northern Echo. 3 May 2015. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
4. Short, J. H. T. (5 July 2012). "Notice of Regimental Amalgamation – 5th July 2012". 9th/12th Royal Lancers (Prince of Wales’s) Charitable Association. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
5. "Royal Lancers renamed by Queen at Windsor Castle ceremony". BBC News. 5 April 2017. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
6. @RoyalFamily (8 June 2023). "Her Majesty The Queen has been appointed Colonel-in-Chief of @TheRoyalLancers " (Tweet) – via Twitter.
7. "Regular Army Basing Matrix" (PDF). Ministry of Defence. 21 September 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 August 2016. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
8. "Scout: new eyes and ears on the battlefield". Ministry of Defence. 3 September 2014. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
9. "Ajax Fighting Vehicle Trials Paused As 'Precautionary Measure'". www.forces.net. British Forces Broadcasting Service. 1 June 2021. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
10. "Transforming the British Army" (PDF). Ministry of Defence. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
11. "Regular Army Basing Plan" (PDF). Ministry of Defence. 5 March 2013. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
12. Chambers, Kirstie (19 April 2021). "Royal Lancers Return Home After Six-Month Kosovo Deployment". Forces Net. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
13. Newton, Simon (27 July 2018). "Op TOSCA: Royal Lancers Peacekeeping In Cyprus". Forces Net. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
14. @BG_Poland_eFP (13 April 2023). "Reconnaissance soldiers from 🇬🇧 @TheRoyalLancers have arrived in Poland. The 🇵🇱 Brigade Commander and 🇺🇸 Battle Group Commander held a parade to welcome them. #WeAreNATO #StrongerTogether" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 23 May 2023. Retrieved 23 May 2023 – via Twitter.
15. "No. 62679". The London Gazette (Supplement). 11 June 2019. p. 10349.
16. "No. 64628". The London Gazette (Supplement). 14 January 2025. p. 503.
17. Regiments and Commanding Officers, 1960–.
18. "The Royal Lancers". Ministry of Defence. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
19. "The Royal Lancers are part of the procession for the coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla on Saturday". Alamy. 6 May 2023. Retrieved 21 April 2024.

External links

• Official webpage