The Queen wanted to lay on a major celebration for the Grenadier Guards when they marked their 350th anniversary this week, but the monarch was in for an even bigger surprise herself when she met Regimental Lieutenant Colonel Bolitho.
Her Majesty was clearly delighted by the encounter, though, smiling broadly as she looked up at the statuesque soldier, who towered over her. The impressive officer was just one of over a thousand troops and their families who gathered on the lawns of Buckingham Palace to celebrate the regiment's long history.
The monarch, who was sporting a blue and white floral summer dress for the occasion, knows the Grenadiers only too well, as they regularly serve among the Royal Guards who protect her London home. Their duties go far beyond the ceremonial though as they have also fought in almost every campaign the British Army has been involved in since it was first formed.