The Privy Report 2
Copyright© 2026 by Old Grey Duck
Chapter 13
Reader Feedback:
So concerning the previous chapter and the topic of “Beefeaters”, I got a LOT of people telling me that my information was not fully correct. Several people commented in the “readers comment” section, and others in private.
I’m the first to admit that sometimes, things don’t work out as I had hoped. My apologies if you, the reader, was upset over this.
I think that of all the feedback that I received, the following is the most comprehensive reply I have received.
I think we can all move on towards other topics now?:-)
From: gschies 04/24/2026, 2:24:22 PM
Hi,
thank you for continuing the good work!
Now, for the inevitable “but” - please, do get your details right. There has been a right cock-up here in this chapter, I tell you - and I’m not even a Britisher! smokeaknz already pointed that out, but was rather short about that. So let’s try to sort this out: The British monarch has got several bodies of guards, please do not confuse them. So, yes, there are the Beefeaters a.k.a. Yeomen of the Guard https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeomen_of_the_Guard - they wear red coats but in decidedly Elizabethan cut (the first Elizabeth, to be precise). Their headgear is black, but it’s hats, not bearskins. Furthermore, they are foot soldiers, not sitting astride a horse.
Then there are the other Beefeaters, the Yeomen Warders of the Tower: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeomen_Warders - they do have an animal connection, as they are also responsible for the ravens that live in the Tower of London. These Beefeaters may be the ones referred to on the eponymous gin bottles. To be able to join either one of the Beefeaters, a candidate must have 22 years of service with the British Armed Forces.
Neither of these guards are to be confused with the King’s Guard, that’s soldiers mounting guard at certain locations in London. These ceremonial sentries mostly belong to one of the Guards Regiments that make up the British Army’s Household Division. That division consists of two cavalry regiments, the actual Life Guards and the Blues and Royals, and five regiments of foot: The Grenadier, Coldstream, Scots, Irish and Welsh Guards: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Household_Division Now, cavalry means that someone sits on a horse, so the mounted regiments do sentry duty at Horse Guards, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horse_Guards_(building). Their uniforms are red (Life Guards) and blue (Blues and Royals), but they do wear helmets and sometimes even a cuirass (the descendant of medieval plate armour): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_Guards_(United_Kingdom)#Uniform The fur hats, properly called Bearskins, are worn by the soldiers in the regiments on foot: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bearskin. Their uniform is the classic red tunic, differing only in some details that are peculiar to each of the guards regiments (the badge of the Welsh Guards, for instance, is the leek: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welsh_Guards, while for the Coldstream Guards it’s the Star of the Order of the Garter: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coldstream_Guards).
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