Royal Colonel is an appointment made by the British Monarch, currently Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, to members of the British Royal Family who are appointed to the position of Colonel-in-Chief of a Regiment within the British or Commonwealth army. Royal Colonel appointments are made for regiments and military units of the British Army. Similar roles exist in honorary Air Commodores-in-Chief and Air Commodores for the Royal Air Force, and honorary Commodore-in-Chief for the Royal Navy.
These appointments are honorary and do not confer rank or uniform upon the recipient. They are a ceremonial appointment designed to further strengthen the bond between the British Army and the Royal Family. The Royal Colonels act as an escort to the monarch and wear full uniform appropriate to the regiment of which they are in command. The appointment is made by the Queen and is announced in a Press Release issued by the Palace Press Secretary.
Following the reorganisation of regiments in 2006 the following appointments were made:
- HM The Queen
- The Royal Regiment of Scotland
- The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, 5th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland
- The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment (King's Lancashire and Border)
- The Royal Welsh
- HRH The Duke of Edinburgh
- The Highlanders, 4th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland
- The Rifles
- HRH The Prince of Wales
- The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion the Royal Regiment of Scotland
- 51st Highland, 7th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland (TA)
- The Mercian Regiment
- HRH The Duke of Cambridge
- The Irish Guards
- HRH The Duke of York
- The Royal Highland Fusiliers, 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland
- The Yorkshire Regiment
- HRH The Earl of Wessex
- 2nd Battalion The Rifles
- HRH The Princess Royal
- The Royal Scots Borderers, 1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland
- 52nd Lowland, 6th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland (TA)
- HRH The Duke of Gloucester
- The Royal Anglian Regiment
- 6th Battalion The Rifles (TA)
- HRH The Duchess of Gloucester
- 7th Battalion The Rifles (TA)
- HRH The Duke of Kent
- 1st Battalion The Rifles
- HRH Princess Alexandra
- 3rd Battalion The Rifles
- HRH The Duchess of Cornwall
- 4th Battalion The Rifles
- HRH The Countess of Wessex
- 5th Battalion The Rifles
Famous quotes containing the words royal and/or colonel:
“High on a throne of royal state, which far
Outshone the wealth of Ormus and of Ind,
Or where the gorgeous East with richest hand
Show’rs on her kings barbaric pearl and gold,
Satan exalted sat, by merit raised
To that bad eminence; and, from despair
Thus high uplifted beyond hope, aspires
Beyond thus high, insatiate to pursue
Vain war with Heav’n, and by success untaught,
His proud imaginations”
—John Milton (1608–1674)
“I am asked if I would not be gratified if my friends would procure me promotion to a brigadier-generalship. My feeling is that I would rather be one of the good colonels than one of the poor generals. The colonel of a regiment has one of the most agreeable positions in the service, and one of the most useful. “A good colonel makes a good regiment,” is an axiom.”
—Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)