Horse Guards Parade

Horse Guards Parade is a large parade ground off Whitehall in central London (at grid reference TQ299800). It is the site of the annual ceremonies of Trooping the Colour, which commemorates the monarch's official birthday, and the Beating Retreat.

To the west, beside , the Guards Memorial, designed by the sculptor Gilbert Ledward in 1923–26 and erected to commemorate the First Battle of Ypres and other battles of World War I.^[5]

St James's Park

To the north, the , designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens in 1925, removed before the Second World War, and returned to its original site beside the Admiralty Extension building and rededicated on "Beaucourt Day" (13 November 2003).

Royal Naval Division War Memorial

Equestrian statues

To the south, statues of Field Marshal and of Admiral of the Fleet Mountbatten (see Statue of the Earl Kitchener, London and Statue of the Earl Mountbatten, London).

Kitchener

A number of military monuments and trophies ring the outside of the parade ground, including:

An oddity is the black background to the number 2 of the double sided clock which overlooks the Parade Ground and the front entrance, it is popularly thought to commemorate the time the last absolute monarch of England, Charles I, was beheaded at the Banqueting House opposite.

The Major General's Review, usually two weeks beforehand, when the salute is taken by the

Major-General commanding the Household Division

The Colonel's Review, the week beforehand, when the salute is taken by the of whichever of the five regiments of foot guards will have their regimental colour "trooped".^[7]

Royal colonel

Media related to Horse Guards Parade at Wikimedia Commons

51°30′17″N 0°07′42″W / 51.5047°N 0.1283°W / 51.5047; -0.1283