Her Majesty's Bodyguard of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms is a bodyguard to the British Monarch. It was formed in 1509 by King Henry VIII to act as a mounted escort, armed with spear and lance to protect the sovereign in battle or around the country. In 1526, they became a dismounted bodyguard armed with battleaxe. They last saw service in battle during the English Civil War. Today, the duties are purely ceremonial - the Gentlemen attend the Sovereign at various ceremonies including state visits by Heads of State, the State Opening of Parliament and the ceremonies of the various orders of chivalry, including the Order of the Garter. The Corps today consists of five Officers (the Captain, the Lieutenant, the Standard Bearer, the Clerk of the Cheque and the Harbinger) and 27 Gentlemen. The senior Officer is the Captain, a political appointment who is now always the Government Chief Whip in the House of Lords.

The uniform is that of a Heavy Dragoon Guards officer of the 1840s. It has a skirted red coat with Garter blue velvet cuffs and facings embroidered with the Tudor royal badge of the Portcullis. Helmets with white swan feather plumes are worn when on duty, even in church. Officers wear gold aiguillettes and carry sticks of office which they receive from the Sovereign on appointment. Cavalry swords are worn, and long ceremonial battle-axes, over 300 years old, are carried by all the Gentlemen.

• The Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms