[Toby Purcell]

At first the two Household Cavalry regiments (then the Life Guards and the Royal Horse Guards) did not wear a cap badge at all on the coloured forage cap when it was first introduced c1904, in part because they had worn both, a pillbox cap and a forage cap without insignia for so long, and did not wish to follow the same practice as the line cavalry (even the NCOs had previously worn just a crown on pillbox caps based upon their arm badge, and no badge on forage caps).

Before the original HCR was formed the two regiments wore individual cap badges on coloured forage caps, although they were very similar, but simply with different titles on the badge's circlet. Separate and beautifully enameled cap badges were introduced comprising a simple circlet with title, surmounted by a crown, and with the Royal cypher at its centre. When the 1st and 2nd LG merged in 1922 their badge simply replaced 'first' and 'second' with 'The'.

When a cap badge was chosen to be worn by the original HCR, it was a generic enameled badge, based on a garter strap, and worn by both regiments on that particular cap. It remains to be the case today, but just with the Blues and Royals replacing the RHG within the duo.

I enclose an image of a pre-1953 version of HCR cap and insignia, and you can see that apart from the Sovereign's cypher at the centre of the cap badge, it is the same pattern as today.