A MILITARY parade attended by the Queen took place at Richmond Castle to mark the amalgamation of two regiments of Royal Lancers.

The event, which was attended by hundreds of family members, military personnel and civic leaders, saw 400 officers and soldiers from the Queen’s Royal Lancers and 9th/12th Royal Lancers (Prince of Wales’) parade through Richmond on Saturday afternoon led by lancers on horseback.

The Queen and her son Prince Andrew, Duke of York, looked on as the formal handover of command to the first commanding officer of the newly-formed regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Marcus Mudd, who previously commanded the 9th/12th Royal Lancers, took place in the castle grounds.

Following the ceremony, there was an RAF flypast before the troops marched back out of the castle while regimental flags were changed.

The Royal party met selected members of the regiment and their families and the Queen, who is Colonel-in-Chief of the Royal Lancers, was presented with a posy of flowers before her departure.

The Northern Echo:

Lt Col Mudd said: “Today has been a hugely significant day for the Royal Lancers. To be formed in the presence of Her Majesty The Queen is very special and continues a relationship of patronage from the monarch with our regiment.

“We recruit heavily from the North of England, as well as the Midlands, and we will carry this forward as the Royal Lancers.

“Having soldiers from the same areas adds a family feel to the regiment, which we pride ourselves on.

“The turnout in Richmond was really humbling; this show of support by the local community to the regiment, many of whom have recently moved back to the UK from Germany, really makes us feel at home at Catterick Garrison.”

Warrant Officer Class II Richard Doherty was one of the members of the regiment selected to meet the Queen with his family.

He said: “Today has been the culmination of a lot of hard work so to finally get here has been fantastic.

"I had been living in Germany with the 9th/12th Royal Lancers so this has been a big change for me and my family, but I'm looking forward to getting started as part of the new regiment.

“I didn’t think the Queen would address me but she asked about my job – and my son Finley piped up to tell her he was four.

“She told him that was a very good age to be.”

Earlier, despite the cold and rain, people gathered in the town to catch a glimpse of the Queen and the parade.

Eileen Hunter and neighbour Pauline Petty grabbed a prime position in the streets leading to the castle and shared an umbrella with new friends Libby and Anya Wagstaff.

Mrs Hunter said: "We live in Tower Street at the foot of the castle so we have been really excited to see the build up this week.

"We are big fans of the Royals so we came out with our seats and umbrella this morning to make sure we got a good space.

Mrs Wagstaff from Bellerby, near Leyburn, said she found out about the event more recently so came to Richmond early in the hope of spotting the Queen, who she recalled seeing as a child at Royal Chelsea Hospital.

The castle was due to reopen to the public at 11am this morning (Sunday, May 3).