The Household Division is made up of seven regiments and is commanded by The Major General. There are two Regiments of Household Cavalry, the Household Cavalry Regiment and The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment. Both Regiments have Squadrons of The Life Guards and The Blues and Royals. The other five Regiments are collectively known as the Foot Guards. They are The Grenadier Guards, The Coldstream Guards, The Scots Guards, The Irish Guards and The Welsh Guards. The Regiments owe their origins to the fact they were raised for the express purpose of guarding the Sovereign. A duty they still carry out today. This is reflected directly in the Divisional title. Although it is, in part a Ceremonial Duty, the role is operational in support of the Police. The seven Regiments are unique from the rest of the British Army in that they carry out this task as well as their modern military role.
The Household Cavalry Regiment provides a Formation Reconnaissance Regiment for 3(UK) Division and The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment is the Ceremonial Regiment in London. At any one time two of the Foot Guards Battalions are based in London with the remaining three providing mechanised, armoured and light role Infantry to Brigades across the British Army. All have recently been involved on operations in the Gulf, Bosnia, Northern Ireland and Kosovo.
The Grenadier, Coldstream and Scots Guards each have an independent company which is permanently based in the London area for ceremonial duties.
