Female guard shouts get of the reins #horseguardsparade

#horseguardsparade #thequeensguard #london 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. It was also the scene of annual celebrations of the birthday of Queen Elizabeth I. The area has been used for a variety of reviews, parades and other ceremonies since the 17th century.

The adjacent Horse Guards building was once the Headquarters of the British Army. The Duke of Wellington was based in Horse Guards when he was Commander-in-Chief of the British Army. The current General Officer Commanding London District still occupies the same office and uses the same desk. Wellington also had living quarters within the building, which today are used as offices.

Car park usage

Horse Guards Parade with the London Eye Ferris wheel in the background.
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. In April 1993 the Royal Parks Review Group, headed by Dame Jennifer Jenkins (later Baroness Jenkins) recommended that the parade should be restored for public use, and linked to St James's Park by closing Horse Guards Road.[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 such as by prominent columnist Simon Jenkins who pressured the Head of the Home Civil Service, Sir Robin Butler to end general usage as parking as part of a wider programme of reforms.[1] In late 1996 Horse Guards Parade was cleared, for repairs. In March 1997 it was announced that parking was banned.[4]