A speech by HRH The Prince of Wales at The Queen's Own Yeomanry Guidon Parade, Bramham Park, Wetherby

Colonel, Officers, Warrant Officers, Non-Commissioned Officers and Troopers of the Queen’s Own Yeomanry.

 

This is the second time you have been presented with a Guidon since the formation of the Regiment in 1971, forty-seven years ago.  The Guidon that has been marched off parade today represents over two centuries  of volunteer service to the Crown at home and abroad; service which has continued to this day.

 

Since its formation, the Regiment has carried on the example of its forebears and served around the world on exercises and operations.

 

As Your Royal Honorary Colonel, I am so very proud to witness the Queen’s Own Yeomanry continuing to uphold its traditions of service and duty whilst meeting the new challenges of an ever-changing world.

 

I acknowledge with immense gratitude and undying admiration the truly exceptional contribution that your Officers, Soldiers and families provide so selflessly to the defence of the realm.  You set us an outstanding example that I, for one, do not take for granted.

 

For instance, since 2006, one hundred and twenty-four yeomen from the Queen’s Own Yeomanry have been mobilised in support of twenty-five different deployments, including to Iraq, Afghanistan, Cyprus and, most recently, Poland on NATO’s Eastern flank.  As I speak, many Army reservists will be engaged on continuously hazardous operations, often out of sight and out of mind.  Many will be called upon to leave their civilian workplaces to return to dangerous theatres of operation. 

 

This kind of remarkable loyalty and dedication cannot be realized without the selfless and extraordinary support of reservists’ families.  I would like to take this opportunity today to salute them for the vital and understanding role they play.

                                                            

You should all be justifiably proud of your achievements to date and I have every confidence that with the strength derived from your illustrious forebears, and from this new Guidon, the Regiment will go from strength to strength.  I can only congratulate you today on the smartness of your bearing and on all the effort you have put into this splendid occasion.

 

On behalf of Her Majesty, I am entrusting this new Guidon, which chronicles so much of the Regiment’s marvellous History, to your safekeeping, and I am certain that it will inspire all those who serve alongside it to maintain the very highest standards in the Queen’s Own Yeomanry.