"They're changing guard at Buckingham Palace"

January 30, 2010 6:11 PM

In 1660, the Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guards marched from Scotland to London under the command of General Monck, and helped end Parliamentary rule and restored the monarchy under Charles II. 350 years later, to honour their former commander and to help raise funds for their injured colleagues, soldiers from the Coldstream Guards recreated the march in aid of charity.

The Coldstream Guards - who are known for their ceremonial role as the Guards at Buckingham Palace - is the oldest Corps by continuous existence in the British Army.

General George Monck led a small army of around 6,000 men out of Scotland and marched south for London. His trip took 34 days amidst severe weather conditions. Once in London the General seized control of Parliament and eventually ensured the restoration of the exiled Charles Stuart to the throne. Charles II rewarded him with a pension and a dukedom.

The Regiment was instrumental in putting Charles II back on the throne, thereby re-establishing the Monarchy and restoring civil liberty to England.


<sub>The charity is the British Army Benevolent Fund, the official charity of the British Army, which gives support to serving soldiers, former soldiers and their families in times of need.

Captain Mark Hayhurst:
'We are just hoping that the people will turn up and cheer us on in what we are doing. All our limbs are painful but we have got to be thankful that we have limbs to hurt."</sub>

posted by Petrot (9 comments total)

Baxterbear helped restore the monarchy?
posted by MtDewd at 6:32 PM on January 30, 2010 [1 favorite]

...thereby re-establishing the Monarchy and restoring civil liberty to England.

Well, that's one way of looking at it, certainly. Monck tried to protect the liberty of parliament in spite of the king. It wasn't a sure thing though, hence the Habeas Corpus Act, the Exclusion Crisis, the Glorious Revolution, and the Bill of Rights - all a generation later. Monck should've got a lot more out of the king while he was still in Breda. The Restoration was a cock-up and basically had to be redone.

Well, that's my reading of history, anyhow.
posted by Sova at 6:34 PM on January 30, 2010 [1 favorite]

The Regiment was instrumental in putting Charles II back on the throne, thereby re-establishing the Monarchy and restoring civil liberty to England

...for, like, thirty years, until Jimmy "Oh Brother" Two-n-Seven got all Popin' French and left the big chair to some glorious orange dude.
posted by Sys Rq at 6:37 PM on January 30, 2010 [4 favorites]

Back-stabbing bastard who had Overton arrested. Should have seen his treachery coming, he'd murdered a sheriff while still a teenager. Fitting that the British establishment should be restored by a man of his venality and naked self-interest.
posted by Abiezer at 7:36 PM on January 30, 2010 [2 favorites]

The charity is the British Army Benevolent Fund, the official charity of the British Army, which gives support to serving soldiers, former soldiers and their families in times of need.

"We are just hoping that the people will turn up and cheer us on in what we are doing. All our limbs are painful but we have got to be thankful that we have limbs to hurt."

This expat is saluting from 3000 miles away.
posted by Webbster at 8:48 PM on January 30, 2010 [1 favorite]

Nulli Secundus.
posted by eriko at 10:40 PM on January 30, 2010

...thereby re-establishing the Monarchy and restoring civil liberty to England. I too would like to take issue with your interpretation of History.
posted by adamvasco at 11:44 PM on January 30, 2010

The Regiment was instrumental in putting Charles II back on the throne, thereby re-establishing the Monarchy and restoring civil liberty to England....

A timely tale, because around three hundred fifty years later the Canadian successors to the British government in North America under the leadership of Stephen Harper succeeded in restoring the policies of Charles I, so he could watch the Winter Olympics in peace.
posted by Deep Dish at 1:11 AM on January 31, 2010

It's also 350 years since Samuel Pepys started his diary: there are many mentions of Monck in the diary, particularly in the first few months.
posted by mattn at 2:15 AM on January 31, 2010