The Belgian Royal Escort ( nl, Koninklijk escorte te paard, french: Escorte royale à cheval) is a horse- and motorcycle-mounted unit that accompanies the Belgian monarch on ceremonial occasions. It also provides escorts for foreign visiting heads of state and ambassadors presenting their credentials at the Royal Palace in Brussels.

Composition

The Royal Escort is not a full-time unit but is brought together on occasions of major ceremony as noted above. It is provided by units of the

Federal Police A law enforcement agency (LEA) is any government agency responsible for the enforcement of the laws. Jurisdiction LEAs which have their ability to apply their powers restricted in some way are said to operate within a jurisdiction. LEAs ...

. Prior to the merger of the

Gendarmerie Wrong info! --> A gendarmerie () is a military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to " men-at-arms" (literally, ...

and Police, the unit was provided by the Gendarmerie. There are two Royal Escorts: the mounted escort and the motorcycle escort.

History

The Belgian monarchs have been accompanied by a mounted escort on state occasions since Belgium's

independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

in 1830. Until 1914 these were provided by detachments drawn from either the ''Marie-Henriette'' squadron of the Civic Guard of Brussels or from the

Guides Regiment The 1st Guides Regiment (french: 1e Régiment des Guides, nl, 1e Regiment Gidsen) was an armoured regiment of the Belgian Army. Previously amalgamated with the 1st Regiment Chasseurs à cheval (2004), in 2011 the regiment was amalgamated with 2 ...

s of the regular cavalry of the Belgian Army, based in Brussels. After World War I the disbandment of the Civic Guard led to a suggestion that a separate mounted ceremonial unit be established but the proposal was left in abeyance until the Belgian cavalry was mechanized in 1938. Accordingly, in that year a permanent Royal Escort was created as part of the Gendarmerie. The full dress uniform of

bearskin A bearskin is a tall fur cap, usually worn as part of a ceremonial military uniform. Traditionally, the bearskin was the headgear of grenadiers, and remains in use by grenadier and guards regiments in various armies. Bearskins should not be c ...

, black tunic and white breeches then adopted, and still worn, had been that of the mounted gendarmerie prior to 1914.

References

Royal Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a cit ...

Belgian monarchy Belgian ceremonial units {{Belgium-stub

Composition

History

See also

References