Royal Hussars

The Royal Hussars (Prince of Wales's Own) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army from 1969 to 1992.

It was formed by the amalgamation of the 10th Royal Hussars (Prince of Wales's Own), and 11th Hussars (Prince Albert's Own).

It mostly served in Germany, as a heavy armoured regiment of the British Army of the Rhine, with several tours to Northern Ireland. One squadron was stationed with the Berlin Brigade in 1979, and occasional detachments travelled overseas to the US, Cyprus, and Hong Kong, among other deployments. In 1983, whilst with the 7th Armoured Brigade, the regiment became the first unit to be equipped with the Challenger 1 main battle tank.

In 1992, the regiment was amalgamated with the 14th/20th King's Hussars to form The King's Royal Hussars.

The regiment is known for wearing the crimson trousers that were Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg's family colour. Prince Albert was escorted from Dover to London by the 11th Hussars prior to his marriage to Queen Victoria. He was subsequently appointed Colonel (in-chief) of the 11th Hussars (hence the crimson trousers).

References

* [http://www.regiments.org/regiments/uk/cav/D10RH.htm regiments.org page on The Royal Hussars]
* [http://website.lineone.net/~royal.hussar/rh.htm The Royal Hussars unofficial website]