Why do the English royal guards have those massive hats on their head?

Question

Why do the English royal guards have those massive hats on their head?

Answer 1

it was the spoils of war they took the original ones off the french ,

Answer 2

it's a tradition

Answer 3

The BRITISH (not solely English) guards at places like Buckingham Palace are made up of one of 5 regiments - The Coldstream guards, Grenadier guards, Scots Guards, Irish Guards and Welsh Guards (hence why English was a completely wrong name to call them).  The guard places including Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, St. James' Palace and the Tower of London.

They wear the large hats to make them look larger and therefore more threatening and scary.  The Red colour is to make them stand out as well as hiding any blood staining from wounds.  The hats are made from bear skin (it is now the policy to use bear skin from bears that have died naturally rather than hunting them).

My grandfather was a member of the Coldstream Guards during WWII and he remained on guard during parts of the blitz. When not guarding, the guards are often training or in the battlefield.

Answer 4

Its tradition.

Answer 5

Simply put - they used to wear them in battle to make the man look taller and scare the enemy.  Nowadays they are made of Nylon but the Officers hats are taller and sometimes are still made of bearskin!

Answer 6

Where would you rather have them put the massive hats - if not their head??

Answer 7

probably to make them look bigger. One of their lunatic kings also made his guards wear platform shoes. He also tried to make them cut their ears off too (probably to enable them to run faster)

No, I'm not joking

Answer 8

Ah the bearskins. Only Guards and regiments wear it as part of their uniform As do officers of the Fusiliers. Other regiments don't. It is only part of the cermonial uniform not the fighting uniform (for obvious reasons). But it is worn as tradition.

Answer 9

A bearskin is a tall fur cap worn as part of the ceremonial uniform of several regiments in the British Army (most notably the five regiments of Foot Guards and the Honourable Artillery Company), the Canadian Army (Royal 22e Régiment (The Van Doos), Governor General's Foot Guards, Canadian Grenadier Guards, The Royal Regiment of Canada), the Royal Life Guards (Den Kongelige Livgarde) of the Royal Danish Army, the Royal Life Guards (Kungliga Livgardet) of the Royal Swedish Army, the Guard Grenadiers (Grenadiers Garde) of Holland, and the Mounted Royal Escort of Belgium.

Until 1914 bearskins were worn in parade uniform by the Regiment der Grenadiers/Regiment of Grenadiers of the Belgian Army. The modern regiment has recently readopted this headdress for limited ceremonial purposes, although it is now made of synthetic fur.

The standard bearskin of the British Foot Guards is 18 inches tall, weighs one and a half pounds and is made from the fur of the Canadian black bear. The British Army purchase the hats, which are known as caps, from a British hat maker, which sources its pelts from an international auction. The hatmakers purchase roughly 100 pelts each year at a cost of around £650 each. Proper maintenance of the caps allows them to last for decades. Some bearskin caps in use are more than 100 years old. In recent times, attempts have been made to produce a version with synthetic fur, with little success due to the effects of the weather and static electricity. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has protested the continued use of real fur despite the fact that the fur used (including by the Canadian Forces) is from roadkilled and culled animals.[

Answer 10

so they don't forget their position in society....