September 20, 2022
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HRFCA is enormously proud to have worked closely for over a decade with the Pipes and Drums of the service cadet organisations, the Army Cadet National Piping Team and the Factor of Balmoral Castle to deliver a series of Beating Retreats for Her Majesty The Queen at Balmoral during Her summer holidays there.
These tri-Service events provided a chance for Her Majesty to hear, see and appreciate the excellent quality of cadet piping and drumming musically, and also as a marching band. It also provided an excellent opportunity for the cadets, their adult volunteers and parents to meet Her Majesty over tea afterwards.
As the accompanying photographs from the last three events in 2014, 2016 and 2019 show Her Majesty enormously enjoyed the occasion as well, often staying on much longer than planned. The Balmoral Beating of Retreat came to become the pinnacle of the cadet piping calendar and those excellent private performances for Her Majesty, other members of the Royal Family and Her house guests will last long in the memories of hundreds of cadet pipers and drummers.
HRFCA has also been closely involved with the scheme to identify and select exceptional cadets from the three community cadet forces, and the Combined Cadet Forces, to become Lord-Lieutenant Cadets. In that role many cadets have met Her Majesty during Her visits to the twenty one Lieutenancies in HRFCA’s area of operations. Included in the photographs below is one such visit by Her Majesty to Dunbartonshire. If other Lords-Lieutenant or Lord-Lieutenant cadets have photographs from other visits by Her Majesty we would be very happy to add them to the montage of photographs.
We very much hope that, in time, we will be able to resurrect the Balmoral Beating of Retreat for His Majesty The King.
God save The Queen. Long live The King.
