The Independent/London
The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment parade during the Colonel’s Review ceremony at Horse Guards Parade in London
Britain’s most recognised – and most photographed – regiments face leaving their traditional home for alternative accommodation under government plans to sell off their barracks for hundreds of millions of pounds.
The Ministry of Defence has confirmed its plans to sell the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment (HCMR) barracks, home of the Life Guards and the Blues and Royals, in Hyde Park, central London after more than 200 years, finding a new home elsewhere in the capital.
The HCMR, historically based near Buckingham Palace, to be on hand to deal with any emergencies besetting the monarch, is to be found a new home more than two miles away from nearby Horse Guards Parade, where it takes part in the Changing of the Guard every day, to the delight of tourists from all over the world.
The 33-storey residential block at the heart of the complex was once voted one of the ugliest buildings in Britain. But its prestigious position in one of London’s most expensive areas has made it a uniquely saleable asset for a department struggling to stay within tight government spending limits.