THE Queen has paid tribute to the "loyalty and devotion" of Catterick Garrison-based frontline reconnaissance soldiers at Windsor Castle.

Accompanied by her son, the Duke of York, the monarch announced she was granting the distinction of an honorific suffix to armoured cavalry regiment The Royal Lancers, making them "The Royal Lancers - Queen Elizabeths' Own".

Trained to operate ahead of lead combat units, the regiment, based at Cambrai Lines, Munster Barracks, has extensive operational experience, most recently being the last cavalry regiment in Afghanistan.

The new name recognises their service to both the Queen and her mother, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, as well as commemorating the monarch's 70th anniversary as Colonel-in-Chief.

At a ceremony to present them with a new heraldic banner in Windsor's St George's Hall, the Queen praised the Lancers, who amalgamated from two regiments in 2015, for being a "force without match".

She symbolically touched the flag known as a Guidon to signal its handover.

The Queen said: "In the short time since I attended your amalgamation, you have established yourselves as a unified Regiment and a force without match. It gives me much pleasure to present to you your new Guidon.

"The Guidon symbolises sacred loyalty to your Sovereign, your country and to all of the officers and men with whom you serve.

"Your loyalty and devotion to duty have been tested over more than 300 years and never found to be wanting.

"Acts of bravery and skill-at-arms run through your regimental history and many of your most famous feats are recalled here, carried on this Guidon.

"To mark my 70th anniversary as your Colonel-in-Chief, I should like to grant you a further distinction, that of an honorific suffix to The Royal Lancers - Queen Elizabeths' Own - in recognition of your loyal service to me and to my mother, Queen Elizabeth."

The Queen, who turns 91 this month, met former colonels of the regiment, before posing for an official photograph and meeting members of regiment in the Grand Reception Room.

The regiment's motto is "Death or Glory" and their distinctive cap badge features a "death's head" skull backed with two crossed wire lances.

Until about a century ago, Guidons and Colours were taken into battle as the distinguishing symbols and rallying points for fighting units.

The Queen attended the military ceremony marking the occasion on the day her great-granddaughter Princess Charlotte of Cambridge was born.