Horse Guards Parade

Horse Guards Parade was formerly the site of the Palace of Whitehall's tiltyard, where tournaments (including jousting) were held in the time of Henry VIII.

For much of the late 20th century, Horse Guards Parade was used as a car park for senior civil servants; about 500 were granted the privilege, which was known as the 'Great Perk'.

[1] The PIRA's mortar attack on 10 Downing Street on 7 February 1991, which was carried out from a vehicle parked in Horse Guards Avenue nearby, narrowly missed causing casualties and led to concerns.

[2] The proposal was taken up by the Department of National Heritage but then resisted by senior Cabinet members, apparently under pressure from the civil servants who were to lose their parking places.

[3] Public revelation of the resistance led to considerable criticism by Simon Jenkins, a newspaper columnist, who pressured Sir Robin Butler, Head of the Home Civil Service, to end general usage as parking as part of a wider programme of reforms.

A number of military monuments and trophies ring the outside of the parade ground, including: An oddity is the black background to the number 2 of the double sided clock which overlooks the Parade Ground and the front entrance, it is popularly thought to commemorate the time the last absolute monarch of England, Charles I, was beheaded at the Banqueting House opposite.

[6] In the early summer, grandstands are erected in Horse Guards Parade in preparation for the Trooping the Colour ceremony which is usually on the second Saturday in June and celebrates the monarch's Official Birthday.