Soldiers of the King
Soldiers of the King is a song written and composed by Leslie Stuart. The song is often sung and published as "Soldiers of the Queen" depending on the reigning monarch at the time. The tune was originally composed by Stuart as a march celebrating the opening of the Manchester Ship Canal. The lyrics were added at a later date and the title changed. The song was then interpolated in the musical comedy An Artist's Model.
The song served as the regimental march of the Queen's Regiment, 1966–1992. In 1992 the Queens Regiment and Royal Hampshires became The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment who now use the song Soldiers of the Queen as their regimental song It is also the regimental march of the combined 2nd and 14th Light Horse Regiment, 2nd/14th Light Horse Regiment ; the Women's Royal Australian Army Corps and the Lord Strathcona's Horse, the second most senior of Canada's Cavalry Regiments. It was used as the de facto marchpast of the British Army during the Diamond Jubilee Armed Forces Parade and Muster. The song was sung by the public attending a farewell function in Brisbane, Australia, the day before the departure of the 1st contingent QMI, to the Boer War. It was again sung as the contingent left Brisbane on board S.S. Cornwall on 1 November 1899.
It was used as the theme to the film, Breaker Morant. BBC Radio 4 comedy programme The Harpoon, a show lampooning boys' magazines from Britain's Empire days of the 20th century, also used the piece as its opening theme—which is harshly interrupted mid-stanza by a page-turn.
The song has no connection to "The Soldiers of Our Queen", a quite different song which appears in the Gilbert and Sullivan opera Patience.Lyrics
Soldiers of the Queen by Leslie Stuart 1898:
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