The Queen's Lifeguard of Horse
The regiment fought at the Storm of Burton on Trent; the Storm
of Bristol; the Siege of Gloucester; a Skirmish at Stow on the Wold; Aldbourne
Chase; First Newbury; the Battle of Olney; Cheriton; possibly the Battle of
Horsebridge; the Taking of Bodmin; the Taking of Respryn Bridge; Lostwithiel; a
Skirmish at Caradon Down; a Skirmish at Blandford; a Skirmish at Basing House; Second
Newbury; the Relief of Donnington; possibly a Skirmish at Winchcombe; a
Skirmish at Islip; the Storm of Leicester; Naseby; were besieged at Leicester;
the Storm of Huntingdon; Rowton Heath; a Skirmish at East Bridgeford; were besieged
at Shelford House; their final action was possibly a skirmish at Marlborough.
Led in the field by Henry Jermyn, 1st Earl of St
Albans, Henrietta Maria’s Master of Horse. Jermyn had accompanied the Queen to The
Hague prior to the outbreak of war to raise support for the King. Jermyn was
the Queen’s favourite, gossip suggesting that he was the true father of Charles
II. Domestic State Papers for 13 August 1660 contain a report by Capt. Francis
Robinson of Nathaniel Angelo, a Windsor clergyman, asserting that 'all the
royal children were Jermyn's bastards'. After Charles I’s execution rumours
spread that Henrietta Maria and Jermyn were married.
Jermyn was responsible for the design and development of
London’s West End, there is a plaque on Chatham House commemorating his life
and achievements see the ECW Travelogue for further details.
They carry a cornet captured by Parliamentarian troops - it is by no means definitive that it belonged to the Queen's Lifeguard, but stylistically a blue field of fleur de lys with a crown is very suggestive of belonging to the Queen's Regiment of Horse. A similar cornet was taken at Naseby - instead of the crown an intertwined 'H' and 'M' were next to an 'R'.
These will be my last Royalist horse for a while: I won't miss painting the bloody awful one piece castings of the pistol pack.
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