Royal guard

A royal guard is a group of military

armed forces

, or are designated as such, and may maintain special rights or privileges.

Institution and tasks

Royal guards have historically comprised both purely ceremonial units serving in close proximity to the monarch, as well as regiments from all arms, forming a designated substantial elite and intended for active service as part of the army. An example of the first category would include the Tropas de la Casa Real of the Spanish monarchy prior to 1930, comprising

halberderos and a mounted escort. Examples of the second would include the Imperial Guards of the Russian and German Empires prior to 1917–18.^[1]

Monarchs frequently modeled their royal guards upon those of fellow rulers. Thus,

Napoleon I's Garde Imperiale was imitated by his opponent Alexander I of Russia, his Bourbon successor Louis XVIII, and his nephew Napoleon III. The modern Garderegiment Grenadiers en Jagers regiment of the Netherlands and the Escorte Royale of Belgium retain features of uniform and other distinctions that can be traced back to Napoleonic influences.^[2]

Political importance

Because of their location, status, role and nature, royal guards have frequently been able to play a political role beyond their intended military and social ones. In times of revolution, the continued loyalty or defection of such units has often played a key part in the outcome of wider unrest. Historical examples were

Russia in 1917 and Persia in 1906 and again in 1953.^[3]

List of royal guards

Past

French Guards at Fontenoy

in 1745.

Hittite Empire

Medjay, since the old kingdom of Egypt until the Ptolemaic dynasty
Somatophylakes, in the ancient Kingdom of Macedonia
Burma
Hangu Beykalun, the Royal Bodyguards of Maldivian Sultan, the unit was formed by Muhammad Thakurufaanu al-Auzam (1573-1585), decommissioned in early 1930s, at the end of the reign Sultan Muhammad Shamsuddeen III
Ancien Régime), part of the Maison militaire du roi de France
.

Monaspa, in the Kingdom of Georgia
Goryeo dynasty of Korea

Joseon dynasty of Korea

Athapattuva, in the Kingdom of Kandy
Crown of Castille
, now part of the Guardia Real of Spain
Walloon Guards, in Spain; recruited from the Spanish Netherlands
Spanish Guards (Gardes Espagnoles), an infantry regiment brigaded with the Walloon Guards but recruited within Spain itself.
Kingdom of France
Royal Foot Guard, in the Kingdom of Poland and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth

Leibgarde der Hartschier, in the Kingdom of Bavaria
Guards Corps, in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire
Noble Guard and Palatine Guard, in the Holy See
until 1970

Granatieri di Sardegna, in the Kingdom of Sardinia and later the Kingdom of Italy

Personal Cavalry Convoy, in the Principality of Bulgaria and Kingdom of Bulgaria
Konigliche Ungarische adelige Leibgarde (Royal Hungarian Noble Bodyguard)
Kingdom of Hungary
Royal Guard of the Halberdiers, in the Kingdom of Portugal