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 Queen's Royal Lancers and 9th/12th Royal Lancers (Prince of Wales's) on 2 May 2015. It serves as the Formation Reconnaissance Regiment of the 12th Armoured Infantry Brigade.

The Royal Lancers
(Queen Elizabeths' Own)
Royal Lancers cap badge
Active2 May 2015 - Current
CountryUnited Kingdom
BranchBritish Army
TypeArmoured reconnaissance
RoleReconnaissance
SizeRegiment
527 personnel[1]
Part ofRoyal Armoured Corps
Garrison/HQRHQ – Grantham
Regiment – Catterick
Nickname(s)The Death or Glory Boys
Motto(s)Death or Glory
MarchQuick: Wellington
Slow: Coburg
Commanders
Colonel-in-ChiefHM The Queen
Colonel of
the Regiment		Colonel Richard Charrington[2]
Insignia
Tactical Recognition Flash
Arm BadgeLances and Prince of Wales's feathers
from 9th/12th Royal Lancers
AbbreviationRL

History

The regiment was formed by an amalgamation of The Queen's Royal Lancers and 9th/12th Royal Lancers (Prince of Wales's) on 2 May 2015.[3] The amalgamation was announced in July 2012, and the regiment was formed with an amalgamation parade before the colonel-in-chief, The Queen, at Richmond Castle on 2 May 2015.[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]

Operational role

The regiment is an Armoured Cavalry Regiment,[6] equipped with the CVR(T) family. This will be replaced by the Ajax (Scout SV) from 2019.[7] It will consist of 3 Sabre Squadrons of 16 vehicles each and one Command and Support Squadron. These will be the Scimitar 2 vehicles and later the SCOUT SV.[8]

The Royal Lancers forms part of the Royal Armoured Corps.[8] It is based in Catterick as part of the 12th Armoured Infantry Brigade, one of the three Armoured Infantry Brigades of the 3rd Division.[9]

Commanding Officers

Regimental Commanding Officers included:[10]

  • 2015–2017: Lieutenant Colonel Marcus J. Mudd
  • 2017–2019: Lt Col Henry L. Searby
  • 2019–Present: Lt Col Adam N. B. Foden

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 Reforms1922 Amalgamations1990 Options for Change2015 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)
12th (Prince Of Wales's Royal) Lancers

Traditions

The Regimental Cap Badge is referred to as the ‘Motto’ and stands for ‘Death or Glory’.[11]

Alliances

References
  1. "Army – Question for Ministry of Defence". p. 1. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  2. "No. 62679". The London Gazette (Supplement). 11 June 2019. p. 10349.
  3. 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.
  4. "Queen and Duke of York visit Richmond for amalgamation parade". Northern Echo. 3 May 2015. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  5. "Royal Lancers renamed by Queen at Windsor Castle ceremony". BBC. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
  6. "Regular Army Basing Matrix" (PDF). Ministry of Defence. 21 September 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 August 2016. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  7. "Scout: new eyes and ears on the battlefield". Ministry of Defence. 3 September 2014. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
  8. "Transforming the British Army" (PDF). Ministry of Defence. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  9. "Regular Army Basing Plan" (PDF). Ministry of Defence. 5 March 2013. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  10. Regiments and Commanding Officers, 1960–.
  11. "The Royal Lancers". Ministry of Defence. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
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