Pomp, pink smoke and fireworks at Beating Retreat ceremony

 
1/4
14 June 2012

There was pomp, pageantry and a great deal of pink smoke as the annual Beating Retreat parade took place in Horse Guards Parade last night.

The historic ceremony, with its pageantry and captivating fireworks, is now a far cry from its origins when a single drummer would beat a signal to mark the end of a day's fighting.

Along with the Massed Bands of the Household Division, the military pageant included the special additions the Royal Cavalry of Oman procession, as well as the appearance of the Moscow Militia, who fired their muskets in a fireworks finale set to Tchaikovsky’s 1812 overture.

To end the evening, all the bands accompanied opera singer Wynne Evans for song Time to Say Goodbye.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in