0:00:05 > 0:00:08Gentlemen, our Colonel in-Chief, her Majesty the Queen.
0:00:10 > 0:00:16GOD SAVE THE QUEEN PLAYS
0:00:16 > 0:00:21Behold, not a single officer of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards
0:00:21 > 0:00:23has risen to his feet. That's tradition.
0:00:36 > 0:00:39And what of this, the 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards
0:00:39 > 0:00:42talking their way through the national anthem?
0:00:42 > 0:00:44That's tradition.
0:00:53 > 0:00:56GAVEL BANGS
0:00:56 > 0:00:59It would seem that Rocket Troop Royal Horse Artillery
0:00:59 > 0:01:02have been asleep since 1952.
0:01:02 > 0:01:04Mr Vice, the King.
0:01:06 > 0:01:08Gentlemen.
0:01:10 > 0:01:11The King.
0:01:11 > 0:01:12ALL: The King.
0:01:18 > 0:01:22Others, beneath the imperious gaze of a long-dead foreign monarch,
0:01:22 > 0:01:25would appear to play the wrong national anthem altogether.
0:01:25 > 0:01:27That's tradition too.
0:01:27 > 0:01:28At the turn of the century,
0:01:28 > 0:01:31none other than Tsar Nicholas the last of Russia
0:01:31 > 0:01:34was Colonel in-Chief of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards.
0:01:34 > 0:01:37He loved them and used to entertain them on his yacht.
0:01:37 > 0:01:38And before his assassination,
0:01:38 > 0:01:42he used to send them little presents in a frame by Faberge.
0:01:48 > 0:01:49Attention!
0:01:51 > 0:01:56Some traditions are common to the British Army and will never change.
0:01:56 > 0:02:01Corporal Whitney, long hair, sir. You want to get that off today.
0:02:02 > 0:02:04Corporal Whitney, long hair, sir.
0:02:04 > 0:02:06Apart from discipline, what emerges
0:02:06 > 0:02:08when you delve into British military tradition
0:02:08 > 0:02:10is that there's no such entity as a British Army.
0:02:10 > 0:02:12What you find is a confederation of regiments,
0:02:13 > 0:02:15hopefully fighting on the same side,
0:02:15 > 0:02:18all fiercely preserving their individuality
0:02:18 > 0:02:21by being as different from one another as possible.
0:02:25 > 0:02:28Edinburgh Castle was the obvious place to start,
0:02:28 > 0:02:31since it's the home of the oldest regiment in the British Army,
0:02:31 > 0:02:34the Royal Scots, the first Regiment of Foot,
0:02:34 > 0:02:36raised in 1633.
0:02:40 > 0:02:44What appeared to be a modest welcome proved nothing of the sort.
0:02:44 > 0:02:45In the highest of all traditions,
0:02:45 > 0:02:50the first Regiment of Foot explained they've no traditions whatsoever.
0:02:50 > 0:02:53Why should they, the exemplars, indulge in eccentric customs?
0:02:53 > 0:02:55It's up to the other regiments, they insisted,
0:02:55 > 0:02:58to make themselves different to us.
0:03:00 > 0:03:02Over, and emphatically out.
0:03:06 > 0:03:09So we tried a more responsive castle, Windsor.
0:03:09 > 0:03:13Its lovely deanery may well evoke images of orthodox theology,
0:03:13 > 0:03:15but both its library and incumbent,
0:03:15 > 0:03:19the Right Reverend Michael Mann, Dean of Windsor, spring surprises.
0:03:19 > 0:03:22Every single book here is on a military subject,
0:03:22 > 0:03:24and there are other artefacts
0:03:24 > 0:03:27which caused the Queen to observe on one occasion,
0:03:27 > 0:03:29"Doesn't look much like a deanery, does it?"
0:03:29 > 0:03:33Yes, I suppose I'm rather a bogus churchman in that sense,
0:03:34 > 0:03:38because... Indeed, my wife gets me under the Trades Description Act.
0:03:38 > 0:03:40She married a soldier and ended up with a parson.
0:03:40 > 0:03:43I'd never thought of doing anything else,
0:03:43 > 0:03:46I'd always wanted to be a soldier from the age of two or three.
0:03:46 > 0:03:49I'd never thought of anything else at all.
0:03:49 > 0:03:54And I went into a regiment where we have strong family connections,
0:03:54 > 0:03:58my wife is the granddaughter, the daughter, the wife,
0:03:58 > 0:04:01the sister and the mother of an officer in the KDGs,
0:04:01 > 0:04:04or now the QDGs as they are amalgamated.
0:04:04 > 0:04:08So, it's been a very strong link,
0:04:08 > 0:04:10and I've never thought of doing anything else at all.
0:04:10 > 0:04:13It was the Church which was rather the surprise,
0:04:13 > 0:04:15particularly to my fellow officers.
0:04:15 > 0:04:18Obviously no Dean to be trifled with,
0:04:18 > 0:04:21but how much importance does he place on tradition?
0:04:21 > 0:04:25Well, in spite of what everyone says, I personally think
0:04:25 > 0:04:29the British people, as a people, are a very traditional people.
0:04:29 > 0:04:33Every human being needs to have roots.
0:04:33 > 0:04:36They need to know where they come from.
0:04:36 > 0:04:40Look at the way the Americans spend endless dollars
0:04:40 > 0:04:42on genealogical tables.
0:04:42 > 0:04:45We all need to know where we come from.
0:04:45 > 0:04:50A Muslim said to me, "If you don't know where you've come from,
0:04:50 > 0:04:53"how can you know who you are or where you're going?"
0:04:53 > 0:04:58And in that sense we need tradition, that sense of continuity,
0:04:58 > 0:05:02and a sense of not just being here for ourselves,
0:05:02 > 0:05:04but here because of those who've gone before
0:05:04 > 0:05:07and for those who are going to follow after.
0:05:07 > 0:05:11And tradition reinforces this very strongly.
0:05:11 > 0:05:13It's part of a moving tapestry.
0:05:13 > 0:05:16MILITARY MARCHING MUSIC PLAYS
0:05:19 > 0:05:23The United States Army, sir! By God!
0:05:23 > 0:05:26Yee-hah! Yee-hah!
0:05:26 > 0:05:28An attachment to a cavalry regiment
0:05:28 > 0:05:31as idiosyncratic as the 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards
0:05:31 > 0:05:36can at first bemuse an American officer like Major Joe Rafeenie.
0:05:36 > 0:05:37It was quite surprising,
0:05:37 > 0:05:41I first observed it with the 13/18th Royal Hussars,
0:05:41 > 0:05:45who were visiting our cavalry unit in Monheim, Germany in the '70s.
0:05:45 > 0:05:48And we were on the parade field and they were invited for a review,
0:05:48 > 0:05:50past the tanks, and the troops marched.
0:05:50 > 0:05:53And when they played the British national anthem,
0:05:53 > 0:05:55there were three officers there from the 13th/18th
0:05:55 > 0:05:57who immediately found the nearest chairs
0:05:58 > 0:05:59and sat down and went on talking.
0:05:59 > 0:06:01The Americans were standing to attention,
0:06:01 > 0:06:03and here's the British officers,
0:06:03 > 0:06:05and they're sitting down and talking.
0:06:05 > 0:06:09So when it was over I said, "You're going to have to explain it."
0:06:09 > 0:06:12I hope with all due respect to the regiment I have this right,
0:06:12 > 0:06:16it was explained to me they were being honoured by Queen Mary,
0:06:16 > 0:06:19they're called Queen Mary's Own, at a banquet one evening,
0:06:19 > 0:06:21and I'm not exactly sure who at the head table
0:06:21 > 0:06:23had had quite a bit to drink
0:06:23 > 0:06:25and didn't feel like standing when it was played,
0:06:25 > 0:06:28and it's said Queen Mary turned to everybody and said,
0:06:28 > 0:06:31"Gentlemen, don't worry about standing, just continue to sit."
0:06:31 > 0:06:35And from that day they continue to sit and never stand up.
0:06:35 > 0:06:38And here they are, the 13th/18th Royal Hussars
0:06:38 > 0:06:41very much at home in their Tidworth barracks,
0:06:41 > 0:06:44a repository, rich not only in tradition but exotic furniture.
0:06:44 > 0:06:48The tour guide is Major Willy Peter.
0:06:48 > 0:06:53This is the anteroom, it equates really to the living room,
0:06:53 > 0:06:56drawing room, sitting room of the mess.
0:06:56 > 0:07:00And in much the same way that your sitting room or drawing room,
0:07:00 > 0:07:02it contained your best property,
0:07:03 > 0:07:08and here we see property dating back over 200 years.
0:07:08 > 0:07:09And like the property
0:07:09 > 0:07:12you have in your home, it has a variety of sources.
0:07:12 > 0:07:18Some of it you'll have bought, some of it you'll have been given,
0:07:18 > 0:07:21and probably not in your case, some of it has been nicked.
0:07:21 > 0:07:27And if we look round now, we can see, for instance, this table.
0:07:27 > 0:07:34This was liberated by the regiment in 1812 after the Battle of Victoria.
0:07:34 > 0:07:39It belonged to King Joseph Bonaparte, the brother of Napoleon Bonaparte.
0:07:39 > 0:07:42And he was King of Spain at the time,
0:07:42 > 0:07:46and he was quietly doing a runner after losing the Battle of Victoria,
0:07:46 > 0:07:50and the 13th Light Dragoons fell upon his baggage train.
0:07:50 > 0:07:54Proudly they display a contemporary picture of the massive ransacking.
0:07:54 > 0:07:57Yes, a little light looting by the 13th Light Dragoons,
0:07:57 > 0:08:01fine picture showing people really hard at work,
0:08:01 > 0:08:05making their day's pay stretch as far as they possibly could.
0:08:05 > 0:08:09But one gathers that looting wasn't universally acclaimed.
0:08:09 > 0:08:10No, the Duke of Wellington,
0:08:11 > 0:08:13who commanded all the British troops in Spain,
0:08:13 > 0:08:15got pretty hacked off with it.
0:08:15 > 0:08:17And in fact I think the 18th Light Dragoons,
0:08:17 > 0:08:20or the 18th Hussars as they were then,
0:08:20 > 0:08:23were threatened with disbandment if they did it once again.
0:08:23 > 0:08:25But unfortunately we don't have any of the stuff
0:08:25 > 0:08:27they nicked at that moment.
0:08:27 > 0:08:30And going on further round,
0:08:30 > 0:08:33we do have something marginally more substantial in this piano,
0:08:33 > 0:08:37which is reputed to have come from the Japanese embassy in Berlin.
0:08:37 > 0:08:41It's a handy little object, easy to conceal about the person,
0:08:41 > 0:08:43and must have taken a great deal of effort
0:08:44 > 0:08:46to get back to the regiment in 1945,
0:08:46 > 0:08:50when we finished the advance through north-west Europe.
0:08:50 > 0:08:55It is appalling, and would cost us, we estimate,
0:08:55 > 0:08:58£20,000 to have it put back in perfect working order
0:08:58 > 0:09:01as Mr Steinway originally made it.
0:09:01 > 0:09:03I should think the Japanese embassy
0:09:03 > 0:09:05have probably replaced it with a Yamaha now.
0:09:10 > 0:09:12In peacetime you've never thought
0:09:12 > 0:09:14of sending that piano back to the Japanese?
0:09:14 > 0:09:18Well, the postage would be quite expensive.
0:09:22 > 0:09:24There's an equally off-key footnote
0:09:24 > 0:09:27to that loot-rich Battle of Victoria in 1813.
0:09:27 > 0:09:31Replenishing their alcohol supplies at the enemy's expense,
0:09:31 > 0:09:34Wellington's men awarded themselves a 48-hour binge,
0:09:34 > 0:09:36thus permitting Joseph Bonaparte to slip back to France
0:09:36 > 0:09:39with 55,000 survivors.
0:09:44 > 0:09:46But penance for some of the more outrageous
0:09:46 > 0:09:48battle-fuelled transgressions is not unknown.
0:09:49 > 0:09:51Every Tuesday and Thursday morning, for example,
0:09:51 > 0:09:54the band of the 9th/12th Royal Lancers parades,
0:09:54 > 0:09:57and everyone comes strictly to attention.
0:10:02 > 0:10:06The ceremony is known somewhat euphemistically as regimental hymns.
0:10:08 > 0:10:13Always, they play the Sicilian Vespers, but why?
0:10:13 > 0:10:16One of the reasons we play regimental hymns
0:10:16 > 0:10:20is during the Peninsular War, the 12th Light Dragoons raided a nunnery
0:10:20 > 0:10:23and stole 104 bottles of wine.
0:10:23 > 0:10:28They also raped and pillaged the nuns and the surrounding area,
0:10:28 > 0:10:30and as a penance, the Duke of Wellington
0:10:30 > 0:10:33said that we'd play regimental hymns for 104 years,
0:10:33 > 0:10:36which is a tradition that's stood ever since.
0:10:38 > 0:10:42The theft was officially expiated around 1917,
0:10:42 > 0:10:45but doubtless with the nuns still on their conscience,
0:10:45 > 0:10:47they've continue to parade twice a week ever since.
0:10:53 > 0:10:56Curiously, the Pope had long since forgiven them.
0:10:56 > 0:11:00He acknowledged their new-found piety with his personal blessing,
0:11:00 > 0:11:03and gave them permission to adopt his favourite hymn,
0:11:03 > 0:11:06already purloined by Imperial Russia for its national anthem.
0:11:18 > 0:11:22In the silver room of the 14th/20th King's Hussars,
0:11:22 > 0:11:25there's yet more evidence of how profitable it was
0:11:25 > 0:11:27to have been on the winning side at the Battle of Victoria.
0:11:28 > 0:11:32Happily, their most prized exhibit has been frequently washed.
0:11:32 > 0:11:35This is what we call the Emperor,
0:11:35 > 0:11:39which was in fact Emperor Joseph Bonaparte's chamber pot.
0:11:39 > 0:11:43And it was looted by the regiment in 1813
0:11:43 > 0:11:46after the defeat of Emperor Joseph Bonaparte
0:11:46 > 0:11:48at the Battle of Victoria in the Peninsular War.
0:11:48 > 0:11:54And it's traditional that we drink out of this after dinner,
0:11:54 > 0:11:56after a formal guest night, formal dinner,
0:11:56 > 0:11:58and it has champagne in it.
0:11:58 > 0:12:01And it's a form of loving cup.
0:12:01 > 0:12:02The Emperor.
0:12:05 > 0:12:06The Emperor.
0:12:06 > 0:12:09It's one of the reasons we've always been known
0:12:09 > 0:12:11as the Emperor's Chambermaids,
0:12:11 > 0:12:14the fact that we have the chamber pot here.
0:12:14 > 0:12:18Now, the 13th/18th Hussars also consider they have a right
0:12:18 > 0:12:20to the ownership of this particular pot.
0:12:20 > 0:12:23And they say we should have their table,
0:12:23 > 0:12:25which they looted at the same time.
0:12:25 > 0:12:30The answer very firmly in my mind is possession is nine-tenths of the law.
0:12:33 > 0:12:36For regiments like the 14th/20th,
0:12:36 > 0:12:39the visual glamour of the horse has mostly gone.
0:12:39 > 0:12:43Today's cavalry are groomed by young men of mechanical bent.
0:12:43 > 0:12:45With that link with history severed,
0:12:45 > 0:12:48how do the other ranks in another era view tradition?
0:12:48 > 0:12:51I think the British Army is the British Army
0:12:51 > 0:12:53because of our traditions.
0:12:54 > 0:12:57It's good getting dressed up in your smart regalia
0:12:57 > 0:12:58and spurs and everything,
0:12:58 > 0:13:01but during the day we're just covered in oil,
0:13:01 > 0:13:03working on these things all the time.
0:13:03 > 0:13:06I think the relevance is basically remembering the wars
0:13:06 > 0:13:10that people of our regiment have gone through in years gone by,
0:13:10 > 0:13:14it makes us different from everybody else.
0:13:14 > 0:13:18So how is the British soldier now regarded by the public?
0:13:18 > 0:13:21They must think we're out of sight, out of mind.
0:13:21 > 0:13:25I think generally they might think we're just a load of squaddies
0:13:25 > 0:13:27that may get drunk occasionally and cause trouble.
0:13:27 > 0:13:30But they forget we're just like a normal nine-to-five job,
0:13:30 > 0:13:33and we're working hard over in Germany and everything.
0:13:33 > 0:13:35We're only remembered when it comes to something
0:13:35 > 0:13:37like the Falklands conflict
0:13:37 > 0:13:39or any other conflict where they may be needed,
0:13:39 > 0:13:42then it's all Land of Hope and Glory sort of thing.
0:13:42 > 0:13:47LAND OF HOPE AND GLORY PLAYS
0:14:02 > 0:14:06Military tradition may have its roots in the Crimea, Rorke's Drift,
0:14:06 > 0:14:09the Somme, but it remains a living subject.
0:14:09 > 0:14:12The Falklands in the '80s subscribed a new chapter,
0:14:12 > 0:14:16and all the while another war endured, against terrorism,
0:14:16 > 0:14:19and an enemy bereft of honour.
0:14:21 > 0:14:24The obsequies themselves are tragically familiar,
0:14:24 > 0:14:28for so much of military tradition is related to the deaths of comrades.
0:14:28 > 0:14:31FUNERAL MARCH PLAYS
0:14:45 > 0:14:50The 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards have a unique symbol of remembrance.
0:14:50 > 0:14:54This is a very special piece of our property.
0:14:55 > 0:14:58It's The Empty Saddle,
0:14:58 > 0:15:04a horse with that unique longing for his master.
0:15:06 > 0:15:10With reverse stirrups cast in bronze and not in silver,
0:15:10 > 0:15:12like much of our property.
0:15:14 > 0:15:21Which sits in a very special place on the mantelpiece, never polished,
0:15:21 > 0:15:27and never moved, as a lasting reminder to us
0:15:27 > 0:15:32of those nearly 300 officers and soldiers killed
0:15:32 > 0:15:35from our two regiments in the First World War.
0:15:42 > 0:15:43Silver, not bronze,
0:15:43 > 0:15:46has always been the traditional hardware of the mess.
0:15:46 > 0:15:49This modest table decoration, the Inkerman centrepiece,
0:15:49 > 0:15:52belongs to the Royal Regiment of Wales.
0:15:52 > 0:15:55Engraved upon it you'll find the entire regimental history,
0:15:55 > 0:15:57including a passionate affinity with goats,
0:15:57 > 0:16:02which began at dawn one morning in the Crimea in 1856.
0:16:02 > 0:16:06Goats in those days were press-ganged to the battlefield
0:16:06 > 0:16:08as meat on the hoof.
0:16:08 > 0:16:11But one broke loose that morning and heroically charged with the troops.
0:16:12 > 0:16:13Far from stewing him the next day,
0:16:14 > 0:16:16they promoted him to regimental mascot.
0:16:16 > 0:16:18Queen Victoria met him on his return,
0:16:18 > 0:16:21and the Royal goatherd has been providing his successors ever since.
0:16:24 > 0:16:27Today's has his own military identity card,
0:16:27 > 0:16:31his own full-time valet with insignia of Goat Major,
0:16:31 > 0:16:34his own chauffeur-driven transport,
0:16:34 > 0:16:36and a goat hangar entirely to himself.
0:16:40 > 0:16:44Goat major, would you kindly introduce me to this chap?
0:16:44 > 0:16:50This is 24416503 Lance Corporal Gwilym Jenkins,
0:16:50 > 0:16:53better known to the public as Taffy Three.
0:16:53 > 0:16:54How old is he?
0:16:54 > 0:16:55He's 6.5 years old now.
0:16:56 > 0:16:57So he's not old enough to smoke?
0:16:57 > 0:17:00He doesn't smoke, but he actually eats a few a day.
0:17:00 > 0:17:01Taff.
0:17:01 > 0:17:02Come on.
0:17:02 > 0:17:04Lance Corporal.
0:17:04 > 0:17:05There you go.
0:17:08 > 0:17:10Tremendous!
0:17:10 > 0:17:13How many of those will he get through in a day?
0:17:13 > 0:17:14He used to at one time,
0:17:14 > 0:17:17he used to be on a ration for cigarettes, two a day.
0:17:17 > 0:17:20But now they've stopped the rations,
0:17:20 > 0:17:24but he'll still eat them for his stomach, it helps to de-worm him.
0:17:25 > 0:17:26What, 10, 12 a day?
0:17:26 > 0:17:28No, roughly about five.
0:17:28 > 0:17:30Does it do him any harm at all?
0:17:30 > 0:17:31No.
0:17:31 > 0:17:33Does he have any other medical problems?
0:17:33 > 0:17:35No, not as such. He's the only goat I know,
0:17:35 > 0:17:38since I've been looking after him, to have hay fever.
0:17:38 > 0:17:40When we put fresh straw and hay down,
0:17:40 > 0:17:43he actually sneezes in the summer months.
0:17:43 > 0:17:45Does he eat the grass around here?
0:17:45 > 0:17:47No, this goat is very fussy.
0:17:47 > 0:17:50He won't eat carrots and he won't graze.
0:17:50 > 0:17:54Because I've actually got to cut the grass myself with a lawn mower
0:17:54 > 0:17:57and put it to one side, and sometimes he might eat it then.
0:17:57 > 0:17:59Other than that, he doesn't bother.
0:17:59 > 0:18:01So he's pretty tough to look after, really?
0:18:01 > 0:18:03Yes, because he's very fussy.
0:18:05 > 0:18:08But so is everyone in the Royal Regiment of Wales on St David's Day.
0:18:09 > 0:18:11The leek must slant at the prescribed angle,
0:18:11 > 0:18:15the music evoke distant valleys and eisteddfods.
0:18:19 > 0:18:23For Lance Corporal Jenkins, it's full dress uniform.
0:18:23 > 0:18:25But he's more than just a pampered mascot.
0:18:25 > 0:18:28On one occasion intruders from a rival regiments broke in
0:18:28 > 0:18:31and cut off his beard, at a price.
0:18:31 > 0:18:34One sustained a broken arm, another a fractured rib,
0:18:34 > 0:18:36and all three finished up in hospital.
0:18:41 > 0:18:45CHEERING AND MILITARY MUSIC
0:18:45 > 0:18:47St David's Day brings an orgy of tradition.
0:19:11 > 0:19:13To explain what's going on here,
0:19:13 > 0:19:17we asked the regimental druid to put you in the picture.
0:19:17 > 0:19:21HE SPEAKS IN WELSH
0:19:24 > 0:19:26CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:19:30 > 0:19:32CHEERING
0:19:38 > 0:19:41You haven't really joined the regiment at all
0:19:41 > 0:19:43until you've eaten a raw leek at the statutory speed.
0:19:43 > 0:19:47I actually tried this, and will never eat a leek again.
0:19:49 > 0:19:51CHEERING
0:20:15 > 0:20:18CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:20:26 > 0:20:28Even if it's hamburgers and beans for dinner,
0:20:28 > 0:20:31the Queen's Royal Irish Hussars don't like their officers to miss it...
0:20:34 > 0:20:38..nor do they overlook the common courtesies.
0:20:38 > 0:20:41Thank you very much, would you like a drink?
0:20:41 > 0:20:42Beer, please, sir.
0:20:42 > 0:20:44Beer on its way.
0:20:49 > 0:20:51It would be folly, let alone invidious,
0:20:51 > 0:20:54to suggest that any regiment in the British Army
0:20:54 > 0:20:56has more style than the others,
0:20:56 > 0:21:00but the Queen's Royal Irish Hussars are certainly candidates.
0:21:00 > 0:21:02Dinner is served, sir.
0:21:05 > 0:21:07The taxpayer may relax,
0:21:07 > 0:21:11this is their home and they've paid for everything themselves.
0:21:11 > 0:21:12Except, that is, the cutlery.
0:21:12 > 0:21:15Accidentally stumbling over a treasure house of French silver
0:21:16 > 0:21:18after the Battle of Salamanca,
0:21:18 > 0:21:21they borrowed it to melt it down into spoons and forks.
0:21:23 > 0:21:25Do you always dine like this?
0:21:25 > 0:21:27Yes.
0:21:27 > 0:21:33We dine six nights a week exactly the same as it is tonight,
0:21:33 > 0:21:36and we always wear our green suit.
0:21:36 > 0:21:38The reason behind it is very simple,
0:21:38 > 0:21:41I was taught this when I arrived in the regiment,
0:21:41 > 0:21:45and I suspect the Cornets who arrive now are still taught it.
0:21:45 > 0:21:48We dress for dinner and we dine like this
0:21:48 > 0:21:52because we are lucky enough to live in a building like this
0:21:52 > 0:21:55with pictures like this, silver like this,
0:21:55 > 0:22:01and our mess staff make the effort of dressing up to wait upon us,
0:22:01 > 0:22:06the chef makes an effort out in the kitchen behind,
0:22:06 > 0:22:09and therefore we are indebted to make the effort
0:22:09 > 0:22:11to appear in the dining room, it's as simple as that.
0:22:11 > 0:22:15We change if we believe there is necessary change,
0:22:15 > 0:22:18but they are the things that we value and we retain.
0:22:18 > 0:22:22We do believe in the way we live.
0:22:22 > 0:22:26It sounds very pompous, but it's not.
0:22:26 > 0:22:31Being home, it's simply not done here to send meals back.
0:22:31 > 0:22:33In the unlikely event of a grievance
0:22:33 > 0:22:36there's an official channel, the complaints and suggestions book.
0:22:36 > 0:22:39At the turn of the century this very volume
0:22:39 > 0:22:41was to become almost a daily exercise book
0:22:41 > 0:22:45for an irascible young officer of burgeoning literary talent,
0:22:45 > 0:22:49and, as history was to prove, much else, Winston Churchill.
0:22:49 > 0:22:52Yes, he was continually appearing in the suggestions book,
0:22:52 > 0:22:54the wages book, the fines book,
0:22:54 > 0:22:57and every other book that appeared in the mess at the time.
0:22:57 > 0:23:01In fact you could say could say that he was a fairly arrogant young man
0:23:01 > 0:23:04while he was with the 4th Hussars in India.
0:23:04 > 0:23:07Well, this is a particular example
0:23:07 > 0:23:14of Winston Churchill's writing at the time.
0:23:14 > 0:23:17On 30th January 1898 he wrote,
0:23:17 > 0:23:21"In the opinion of WSC, the general comfort and furnishing of the mess
0:23:21 > 0:23:24"being much below the standards of all other cavalry
0:23:24 > 0:23:27and most infantry regiments in the army,
0:23:27 > 0:23:30"it is suggested that fresh furniture be purchased,
0:23:30 > 0:23:35"that the carpets be exported, that the hideous wallpaper be altered,
0:23:35 > 0:23:37"and that the mess be generally rendered
0:23:37 > 0:23:41"more suitable to the dignity of the regiment."
0:23:41 > 0:23:43And it's signed by WS Churchill.
0:23:43 > 0:23:46The poor PMC at the time, someone called Hogg,
0:23:46 > 0:23:50writes in his comments, "Where? Price? Pattern? How?"
0:23:50 > 0:23:53And he does say that he will do something,
0:23:53 > 0:23:58but his most telling comment is to say that,
0:23:58 > 0:24:00"Where it says the dignity of the regiment,
0:24:01 > 0:24:03"it should read for the dignity of WS Churchill."
0:24:03 > 0:24:06Did the regiment brush a few chips off the shoulders
0:24:06 > 0:24:08of its most famous old boy?
0:24:08 > 0:24:10Well, we'd like to think so,
0:24:10 > 0:24:13we'd like to think that we had something to do
0:24:13 > 0:24:15with producing the later man.
0:24:15 > 0:24:17GOD SAVE THE QUEEN PLAYS
0:24:17 > 0:24:20You'll recall earlier the 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards
0:24:20 > 0:24:23talking and laughing their way through the national anthem. Why?
0:24:25 > 0:24:27There's no disrespect meant here at all.
0:24:27 > 0:24:32We're as loyal as the next person to the Queen, the sovereign,
0:24:32 > 0:24:35and we always have been and we always will be.
0:24:35 > 0:24:37The point is that our loyalty is not in question,
0:24:37 > 0:24:40and so you will notice that we sit and continue talking
0:24:40 > 0:24:42throughout the national anthem,
0:24:42 > 0:24:46and that's a custom and tradition of this regiment for many, many years.
0:24:46 > 0:24:50But the problem is always finding out why you do those things.
0:24:50 > 0:24:52I mean, there are a variety of choices,
0:24:52 > 0:24:56and people normally perm one of the following.
0:24:56 > 0:24:59One, George IV as Prince Regent
0:24:59 > 0:25:03getting utterly hat-racked in the mess, incapable of movement,
0:25:03 > 0:25:06so the remainder of the officers remained seated out of politeness,
0:25:06 > 0:25:08that's one variation.
0:25:08 > 0:25:13Second variation, all the officers on board ship incapable of standing up
0:25:13 > 0:25:17due to lowness of ceiling, or bulkhead, I believe they call it,
0:25:17 > 0:25:19so remain seated.
0:25:19 > 0:25:22The third one, being so incredibly brave at some point or other
0:25:22 > 0:25:27that their loyalty was no longer in doubt so they were excused doing it.
0:25:27 > 0:25:30I don't know why we don't do it.
0:25:30 > 0:25:34None of which explains why the Rocket Troop toasts the King.
0:25:34 > 0:25:37This man, Sir William Congreve, is responsible for having designed
0:25:37 > 0:25:40the army's latest secret weapon, a rocket.
0:25:40 > 0:25:45Even Congreve only claimed that it was for "the annoyance of the enemy".
0:25:45 > 0:25:47It was first fired in 1813
0:25:47 > 0:25:51by a troop of 200 men under the command of Captain Bogue
0:25:51 > 0:25:54at the Battle of Leipzig.
0:25:55 > 0:25:57Not only did it achieve Congreve's
0:25:57 > 0:26:00somewhat diffident objective of annoying the enemy,
0:26:00 > 0:26:02it caused such widespread panic
0:26:02 > 0:26:06that Bogue's tiny force swept up 3,000 Napoleonic prisoners.
0:26:06 > 0:26:09In his moment of triumph, Bogue was killed.
0:26:09 > 0:26:12The Allied Supreme Commander at Leipzig
0:26:12 > 0:26:14was the Crown Prince of Sweden,
0:26:14 > 0:26:16and he was so impressed that he showered Bogue's family
0:26:16 > 0:26:20with every honour he could bestow.
0:26:20 > 0:26:23To this day on the anniversary of Leipzig, warm messages of greeting
0:26:23 > 0:26:27come to the Rocket Troop from the King of Sweden.
0:26:27 > 0:26:32That's why they toast the King, and it's the only toast they drink.
0:26:32 > 0:26:34GAVEL BANGS
0:26:36 > 0:26:39Mr Vice, the King.
0:26:39 > 0:26:41Gentlemen.
0:26:45 > 0:26:47King Carl Gustaf XVI of Sweden.
0:26:47 > 0:26:50ALL: The King.
0:26:50 > 0:26:52Naturally it's drunk in aquavit.