The Band of the Royal Yeomanry

Join us this Armed Forces Day as we welcome the Band of the Royal Yeomanry for musical performances at 1pm and 3pm.

The Band of the Royal Yeomanry (Inns of Court & City Yeomanry) was formed in 1961 following the amalgamation of the Inns of Court Regiment with The City of London Yeomanry (Rough Riders) to form The Inns of Court & City Yeomanry.

The Inns of Court Regiment was raised in 1548 to help defend the country against a possible Spanish invasion. It was later more popularly known as ‘The Devil’s Own’, a nickname coined by King George III at a Royal Review in Hyde Park in 1803.

The City of London Yeomanry was raised in 1901 from mounted infantry veterans of the Boer War (1899-1902). They too had a nickname, ‘The Rough Riders’, after the volunteer horsemen who fought under Colonel Theodore Roosevelt (later president of the USA) in the Spanish-American War of 1898.

As a result of a major reorganisation of the Territorial Army in 1967, the amalgamated unit’s band became that of The Royal Yeomanry. However, it maintained the ceremonial uniform and, in its title, the style ‘Inns of Court & City Yeomanry’. The band is currently based at Holderness House in the City of London.

Many of the band’s musicians are former members of the Household Division and other Regular Army bands. The rest include freelance professional musicians, instrumental teachers and graduates.

The band undertakes many varied activities both at home and overseas, including musical support to regimental occasions in France and Belgium, as well as support to events in Saudi Arabia for the Military Band Institute for Armed Forces.