Guarding the Queen

In this first of three episodes, the Queen invites the Guards to a party at Windsor Castle to celebrate 350 years of guarding the monarch. At the same time, 17-year-old Steven Cooper is fighting the cold during basic training in Scotland. Should he make it through, a world of pomp awaits him, shaped by ceremonies, between royalty, tourists, marching bands, and boot wax. The show shows Cooper donning his bearskin hat and taking his place at the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace for the first time. "This is Disneyland for Brits," as one American viewer put it.

Posh but tough Major Thorold Youngman Sullivan and no nonsense right hand man, humorless Sergeant Major Steve Munro, have their work cut out to maintain the impeccable Grenadier standards as their most experienced men have been sent to the war in Afghanistan. Steven Cooper, the regiment's new recruit, has just completed his basic training and can't wait to trade his Buckingham Palace sentry box for the front lines, but he will have to be patient. First up is a pompous ceremony in honor of a state visit by the President of Ghana. Only then will there be a decision about his dream of serving in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, the eldest grenadier, Conway Seymore, has to say goodbye to his beloved guards band, which mark his retirement with a song.

The Guards on ceremonial duty are in London practicing for Trooping the Colour alongside their regimental rivals, the Coldstream Guards, while other Grenadiers battle the Taliban in the most dangerous region of Afghanistan, putting in evidence the contrast between the public pageantry and the bitter everyday life at the front.