Today it is a four battalion unit that serves as the protocol and security service of the Spanish Royal Family. In the 1980s it grew into a three-battalion regiment. Upon Franco’s death & the ascension of King Juan Carlos as the head of state and commander in chief of the armed forces, the guard regiment was integrated into the new army under the king & formed the basis of what is now the modern day Guardia Real - the "Royal Guards Regiment" ( Regimento de la Guardia Real), which is responsible to the king thru the Ministry of Defense. After several reorganizations, the unit would last until Franco's death as a combined arms guard regiment. el Generalísimo), was activated, which included a mounted squadron (the Guardia Mora) which was first raised from surplus personnel of the Regulares. Under Francisco Franco, By Decree of February 4, 1949, the Military House of the Generalissimo was reorganized and on the basis of the republican formations the "Regiment of the Guards of His Excellency the Head of State" ( Regimiento de la Guardia de Su Excelencia el Jefe del Estado), later on the "Guards Regiment of HE the Generalissimo" ( Regimiento de la Guardia de S.E. By 1936, it included the infantry "Presidential Guards Battalion" ( batallón de Guardia Presidencial), which remained loyal to the Republic during the civil war. The guards were disbanded in 1931 as a result of the formation of the 2nd Republic and was replaced by the "Presidential Horse Guards Squadron" ( Escuadrón de Escolta Presidencial), which was a cavalry formation. In 1868 the Halberdiers stood down, only to be reformed under King Amadeo I as the Royal Guard Battalion of one infantry company and one cavalry troop and revived as a full battalion under his successor Alfonso XII. In the 1840s only the internal units of the Royal Guards remained as the others were disbanded or transferred to the regular Army. 2nd Guards Infantry Division (Provincial).Royal Guard Company of Sappers and Miners.1st and 2nd Guards Infantry Brigades, organized into two to three regiments of infantry.Lt Gen José Cavalcanti in the uniform of commandant-general of the Corps of Royal Guards Halberdiers ( Alfonso XIII's reign) In 1824-25 the Guard was expanded into a full independent army group reporting to the sovereign and the Royal Military Household with two full corps following the example of France's Napoleonic Imperial Guard and Borbon Restorationist Royal Guards: In the 19th century the guards were reinforced by the Spanish Marine Infantry, which formed its own unit. Two Guards infantry regiments (Walloon Guards and Guards of Spain).Guards de Corps (organized as a squadron).During his reign, the royal guards were organized into: These group of Royal Guards with their Burgundian style, together with two units of alabarderos ("halberdiers"), will remain in service until the reorganization of the "Troops of the Royal Household" ( Tropas de Casa Real) by Philip V. Their purpose was to secure the royal household by standing guard or patrolling the grounds on horseback. They were also called the Guardia de los Archeros (aka Guardia de Cuchilla > "Guards of the Blade") because they were armed with a glaive-type polearm called an archa, not because they were archers ( arqueros). Later on, Charles V's father, Philip the Handsome arrived in Spain in 1502 brought with him his Guardia Borgoñona (" Burgundian Guards"). Later on, the first monarch of Spain, Charles V ordered that a company of those guards to reside and continuously stand guard in his palace, denominating it Los Cien Continos ("The Continuous Hundred"). The senior unit and one of the oldest body guards in the world is the Corps of Gentlemen of the Chamber, the Monteros de Espinosa, dating to 1006 and created by Sancho Garcia of the House of Castile.Įven before the time of the first monarch of Spain, the Catholic Monarchs formed the group called the Guardias Viejas de Castilla ("Old Guards of Castile"). The history of the Royal Guard dates back to medieval times. King Ferdinand of Aragon being escorted by Castile's Royal Guard during the swearing of the Fueros in Guernica in 1476 as Lord of Biscay
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