Horse Guards and the Banqueting House

In front of you are London's most photographed horsemen. They are soldiers of the Household Cavalry, the monarch's mounted bodyguard, standing sentry in the boxes of Horse Guards, the building put up between 1750 and 1759 to a design by William Kent. Through its central arch you reach Horse Guards Parade, the parade ground where Trooping the Colour, the monarch's official birthday parade, takes place every June.

1The king who lost his head

Now turn round and look at the stone palace opposite. This is the Banqueting House, the only major building left of the Palace of Whitehall, home of the kings until it burned down in 1698. It was designed by Inigo Jones and completed in 1622. Charles I had its ceiling fitted with nine canvases by Rubens glorifying his father and the divine right of kings.

It was the last thing he saw. On 30 January 1649, after the Civil War and a trial before Parliament, Charles I stepped out through a window of this building onto a scaffold built in the street and was beheaded before the crowd. England then spent eleven years without a king.

According to tradition, the black mark beside the two on the Horse Guards clock face recalls the hour of the execution.

2What to look for

• The horsemen: red tunics for the Life Guards, blue for the Blues and Royals.
• The tower clock and the black mark on its face.
• The bust of Charles I above the door of the Banqueting House.