The Army ensured the three-mile-long parade through the City of London to swear in the new Lord Mayor arrives on time with support from the air as well as on land this year.
Marking the launch of the British Army’s 1st Aviation Brigade Combat Team (BCT), the Army’s most innovative and awe-inspiring aircraft, the Apache AH, led the way in a flypast on Saturday 12th November over the City skyline, accompanied by Wildcat helicopters.
Apaches from 4 Regiment Army Air Corps, part of a joint flypast with a Wildcat from 1 Regiment Army Air Corps took part in a flypast over the city of London for the Lord Mayors Parade.
The flypast consisted of 2 AH-64Es and a Wildcat. Each Apache is flown by a crew of two from 4 Regiment Army Air Corps based at Wattisham Flying Station, Suffolk. The Wildcat is flown by a crew of 3 (2 x pilots, 1 x rear crew) from 1 Regiment Army Air Corps, based at Royal Naval Base Yeovilton, Somerset.
On the ground soldiers from the Royal Logistic Corps and marshals from reserve units across the service, managed 6,500 people, 250 horses, more than 50 decorated floats, and a flying pig, into position for the oldest, noisiest, largest, and most colourful procession in Europe.
Following the Army Air Corps’ helicopters was a RAF C130 Hercules transporter aircraft, in its final year of service before being retired.
The Lord Mayor’s Show is a major annual spectacle that dates back to the 13th century, when King John rashly allowed the City of London to appoint its own Mayor. The King insisted that each newly elected Mayor should come to Westminster and swear loyalty to the Crown, and the Lord Mayor of London has been making that inaugural journey beyond the City Bounds for over 800 years.
Today the parade celebrates the City’s ancient past and modern outlook and enables the new Lord Mayor to ‘show’ themselves to the public. Cheered on by an estimated 250,000 people lining the City’s streets and millions watching the live BBC coverage and online streaming of the event, the procession left the Lord Mayor’s official residence, The Mansion House, at 11.00am, led by the Bands of the Scots Guards and the Welsh Guards.
Nicholas Lyons has been elected as the 694th Lord Mayor of the City of London and rode in the procession in the golden State Coach, which has been used in every Lord Mayor’s Show since 1757 and is the oldest ceremonial vehicle in regular use in the world.
He was accompanied by his ceremonial bodyguard, the Honourable Artillery Company, The Band of the Household Cavalry and the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment, as well as members of The King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery, Foot Guards Bands of the Household Division, and soldiers, sailors and airmen from reserve and regular military units across London.
As part of the procession, Nicholas Lyons became the first Lord Mayor in the City of London’s history to swear allegiance to the new sovereign, King Charles III, at St. Paul’s Cathedral, following the traditional blessing by the Dean.
In eternal thanks, whenever attending the Lord Mayor, the Band of the Household Cavalry is permitted to wear the gold State Uniforms his predecessor purchased for King Charles II’s glittering return to London to claim His Crown, uniforms which are otherwise only ever worn on Royal occasions.
