1952

This programme is part of Army: A Very British Institution, a collection of classic BBC programmes about the British Armed Forces available online to watch in full.

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This incomplete telerecording is a record of the first time Her Majesty The Queen took the salute as sovereign, her father having died three months earlier. It's not the full ceremony but it is the only surviving footage available. In 1952 only five guards were on parade instead of the usual eight - all but three battalions were serving overseas. The colour that was trooped then was The Queen’s colour of the 2nd Battalion Scots Guards.

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