It can trace its lineage back to 1656 when Lord Wentworth's Regiment was raised in Bruges to protect the exiled Charles II.

Major deployments during this time have included operations in Palestine, Malaya, Cyprus, Northern Ireland, the Gulf War, Afghanistan and Iraq.

The Grenadier Guards trace their lineage back to 1656,[4] when Lord Wentworth's Regiment was raised from gentlemen of the Honourable Artillery Company by the then heir to the throne, Prince Charles (later King Charles II), in Bruges, in the Spanish Netherlands (present-day Belgium), where it formed a part of the exiled King's bodyguard.

[8] During the Victorian era, the regiment took part in the Crimean War, participating in the fighting at the Alma river, Inkerman, and Sevastopol.

They took part in the early stages of the fighting during the period known as "Race to the Sea", during which time they were involved significantly at the First Battle of Ypres.

[12] In recognition of the significant contribution Welshmen had made to the Grenadier Guards, the regiment transferred five officers and 634 other ranks to the newly formed unit.

[12][18] Following this the four service battalions of the regiment fought in a number of significant battles including Loos, the Somme, Cambrai, Arras and the Hindenburg Line.

[11] Following the Armistice with Germany in November 1918, the regiment returned to just three battalions, which were used in a variety of roles, serving at home in the United Kingdom, as well as in France, Turkey and Egypt.

[21] The Grenadier Guards' first involvement in the war came in the early stages of the fighting when all three regular battalions were sent to France in late 1939 as part of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF).

The 3rd Battalion was in the 1st Guards Brigade attached to the 1st Infantry Division, commanded by Major General Harold Alexander.

[40] In 1991, the 1st Battalion, which had been serving in Germany, was deployed to the Middle East, where it took part in the Persian Gulf War mounted in Warrior armoured personnel carriers, before returning for a six-month tour of Northern Ireland.

[42] In 2012, Lance Corporal James Ashworth of the Grenadier Guards was awarded the Victoria Cross posthumously for bravery in Helmand Province, Afghanistan.

They played a role in the Coronation of Charles III and Camilla, with a colour party being present in Westminster Abbey.

In 1656, King Charles II issued the first Colour to the company and every Monarch since has presented their Company with their own Royal Standard just once in their reign, with the exception of King George II, whose color was in 1709, was shot to pieces at the Battle of Malplaquet, and subsequently replaced the following year.

[51] King Edward VII assumed the colonelcy-in-chief of the regiment on his accession, and subsequent monarchs have also been colonel-in-chief.

Handel actually composed the eponymous slow march for the First Guards, presenting it to the regiment before he added it to the score of the opera.

[49] Full dress uniform of the Grenadier Guards worn on ceremonial occasions as in the Household Division includes a tall and heavy fur cap, called bearskin[114] with a white plume worn on the left side of the bearskin, properly called a hackle.