Worship at the Abbey

A Service to commemorate the Founder of Her Majesty The Queen’s Body Guard of the Yeomen of the Guard

28 April 2009 at 11:00 am

Her Majesty The Queen, accompanied by The Duke of Edinburgh, attended a service to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the Founder of the Queen’s Body Guard of the Yeomen of the Guard, at the Tomb of King Henry VII in the Lady Chapel, Westminster Abbey, on Tuesday 28th April, 2009.

The oldest British military corps still in existence, the Body Guard Yeomen of the Guard was created by Henry VII in 1485 at the Battle of Bosworth Field. As a token, the Yeomen still wear red and gold Tudor uniforms. A red cross-belt distinguishes the Yeomen of the Guard from the Yeoman Warders who are based at the Tower of London

There are 60 Yeomen of the Guard (plus six Officers), drawn from retired members of the armed forces.

The Yeomen of the Guard have a purely ceremonial role. They accompany the Sovereign at the annual Royal Maundy Service, investitures and summer Garden Parties at Buckingham Palace, and so on. However, their most famous duty is to 'ceremonially' search the cellars of the Palace of Westminster prior to the State Opening of Parliament, a tradition that dates back to the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, when Guy Fawkes attempted to blow up Parliament.