Infantry regiment of the British army. The bearskin on the statue and the fact that they are the most senior regiment of the guards division, indicate that these are almost certainly the Grenadier Guards. They were raised in Bruges, in what was then the Spanish Netherlands, to form part of the bodyguard to the exiled King Charles II. In its long history the regiment has fought in the wars of both the Austrian and Spanish Successions and the Seven Years War. The name Grenadier was given to them after the Napoleonic Wars. In 1994 they were reduced from three to a single battalion.
Credit for this entry to: Alan Patient of www.plaquesoflondon.co.uk
