Changing the Guard at Buckingham Palace

Changing the Guard at Buckingham Palace ceremony lasts about 45 minutes and usually takes place daily at 11:30 from April until the end of July and on alternate days for the rest of the year, weather permitting.

The privilege of guarding the Sovereign traditionally belongs to the Household Troops, better known as ‘the Guards’, who have carried out this duty since 1660. 

The Guards consist of five infantry regiments - the Grenadier, Coldstream, Scots, Irish and Welsh Guards - and two regiments of the Household Cavalry – the Life Guards and Blues and Royals.

During the Changing the Guard ceremony, also known as ‘Guard Mounting’, one regiment takes over from another.

A funny approach to this ceremony brought to you by Mr. Bean.

Covent Garden

The first market in Covent Garden was born in 1654 when market traders set up stalls for fruit and vegetable against the garden wall of Bedford House. By 1670 the market was held every day except Sundays and Christmas Day.

The original market, consisting of wooden stalls and sheds, became disorganised and disorderly, and in 1830 was designed the neo-classical market building that is the heart of Covent Garden today.

By the end of the 1960s, traffic congestion was causing problems for the market, which required increasingly large lorries for deliveries and distribution.

In 1974  the market relocated to its new site, New Covent Garden Market, about three miles (5 km) south-west at Nine Elms. The central building re-opened as a shopping centre in 1980, with cafes, pubs, small shops and a craft market called the Apple Market.