The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment was formed on 9 September 1992 by the amalgamation of the
Queen's Regiment and the
Royal Hampshire Regiment and holds the earliest
battle honour in the British Army (
Tangier 1662–80). Through its ancestry via the
Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey) (2nd Regiment of Foot), the PWRR is the most senior English line infantry regiment. The current regiment was named in honour of
Diana, Princess of Wales. Upon formation, the Princess of Wales was
Colonel-in-Chief, and the
Queen of Denmark was Allied Colonel-in-Chief of the PWRR. When the
Princess divorced
the Prince of Wales, she resigned as Colonel-in-Chief and the Queen of Denmark was appointed its Colonel-in-Chief.
1st Battalion, The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment The 1st Battalion, The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment (1 PWRR) served a two-year operational tour in Omagh, Northern Ireland from September 1993 to September 1995, then two short tours as the UK Standby Battalion in West Belfast and Armagh in 1996. This was followed by a further Northern Ireland tour in West Belfast during 1997-98, and a composite company from 1 PWRR subsequently served a short tour in Belfast to reinforce 1st Battalion The Highlanders in 1998. In late April 1997, due to the insurgency crisis in Zaire (Democratic Republic of Congo), 1 PWRR, in its role as the designated high-readiness 'Spearhead Battalion' was deployed on a Non-combatant Evacuation Operation (NEO), codenamed Operation DETERMINANT, to evacuate British (non-combatant) personnel at risk from the civil war. 1 PWRR was supported by elements of 5 Airborne Brigade, 3 Commando Brigade, and the Royal Air Force. In August 2000, 1 PWRR deployed for six months to Podujevo in the north-east of Kosovo, on Operation AGRICOLA 4. The Battle Group's primary role was to deter and prevent aggression from Serbia and to ensure a secure internal environment within Kosovo. In May 2002, 1 PWRR returned to Kosovo as the Pristina Battle Group, on Operation AGRICOLA 8 for a further six months. From mid April 2004, 1 PWRR served a six-month tour in Iraq on Operation TELIC 4, with Battle Group Headquarters based at Camp Abu Naji. Before departing England's shores, the commanding officer had informed his battalion that it would be 'a tour like no other', and he was proved correct. The intense combat, in which Private Johnson Beharry won the Victoria Cross, thrust the Regiment into the media's full glare. Many of the operations carried out by the battalion during the tour were named after stations on the
London Underground. In May, the Battle of Danny Boy, involved the first bayonet charge since the Falklands War. An idea of the intensity of the fighting can be gained from the operational awards, with no fewer than thirty-one gallantry honours, bestowed. By the end of the 2004 tour, the PWRR emerged as the most highly decorated infantry regiment in the British Army. In April 2006, 1 PWRR returned to southern Iraq, as part of 20 Armoured Brigade. With the Iraqi insurgency in full spate, the battalion was repeatedly engaged in fierce and intense fighting. Again, the battalion distinguished itself and, over the course of several months, its soldiers won numerous gallantry awards for bravery. In November 2008, 1 PWRR deployed for its third tour of duty in Iraq on Operation TELIC 13 (less two sub-units which were instead deployed to Afghanistan). 1 PWRR helped train the Iraqi Army and oversaw the withdrawal of UK Forces from Basra, as this was the final British combat tour in Iraq. In May 2009, PWRR soldiers were the last British combat troops to drive out of Iraq and into Kuwait. In August 2008, towards the end of Operation HERRICK 8, B Company Group 1 PWRR deployed to Helmand Province, Afghanistan for seven months as the Armoured Infantry Company Group to 16 Air Assault Brigade, and they were joined by the 1 PWRR Reconnaissance and Sniper Platoon. As an armoured force in theatre, they were in high demand and involved in heavy fighting. Subsequently, in October 2011, 1 PWRR deployed to Afghanistan to form the nucleus of the Police Mentoring Advisory Group (PMAG) with individual companies detached to other battlegroups around Helmand province. During this tour, 1 PWRR also achieved the most recent case of a successful bayonet charge, when Corporal Sean Jones led a charge during an ambush in the village of Kakaran, for which he was awarded the
military cross. As a result of
Army 2020, 1 PWRR moved from Paderborn, Germany to be stationed at
Bulford Camp. In October 2023, 200 soldiers from 1 PWRR were deployed to northern
Kosovo following increased tensions and the build-up of Serbian military in the region. Since August 2024, 1 PWRR has been based at
Episkopi Garrison, replacing the
1st Battalion Duke of Lancaster's Regiment as the Regional Standby Battalion.
2nd Battalion, The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment In 1993, Gallipoli Company of 2nd Battalion, The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment (2 PWRR) deployed to Forkhill in South Armagh, Northern Ireland for six months, to reinforce 1st Battalion, The Duke of Edinburgh's Royal Regiment. In late 1993, 2 PWRR deployed to Fermanagh for a six month tour. Subsequently, in September 1995, 2 PWRR returned again to Northern Ireland on a two-year residential tour, taking over directly from 1 PWRR in Omagh. In late 1998, 2 PWRR deployed on a six-month tour of West Belfast and, in the summer of 2003, the battalion returned for a six-month tour of Drummad and Dungannon. Thereafter, and having only recently returned from operational service in Iraq, 2 PWRR deployed in December 2006 for a two-year tour based in Ballykelly, in
Shackleton Barracks,
Northern Ireland, the last resident battalion deployed in this role under
Operation Banner. In the immediate aftermath of Rwanda's 1994 genocide, A Company 2 PWRR deployed, in August, for a three-month tour on Operation GABRIEL. The PWRR task was to provide infantry force protection for the British contingent (BRITCON), whose role was to assist the international humanitarian effort in support of the UN Assistance Mission in Rwanda (UNAMIR). In May 1994, shortly after the Bosnian-Croat Civil War, a rifle platoon from 2 PWRR, deployed to Bosnia-Hercegovina on Operation GRAPPLE 4, to reinforce BRITBAT. Subsequently, 2 PWRR deployed to Bosnia-Hercegovina on Operation PALATINE for a six-month tour in October 2000 as the UK Battle Group. In September 2007, C Company 2 PWRR deployed from Ballykelly, Northern Ireland, to Kosovo on operation OCULUS (K), in the International Surveillance and Reconnaissance Task Force (ISR TF) role. In January 2005, 2 PWRR deployed to Basra Palace, Iraq for a six-month tour, arriving just in time to oversee the first Iraqi election, albeit the potential for violence remained volatile and extremely high. In the second month of the tour, B Company Group was tasked to take over from a Dutch contingent in Al Muthanna Province, an area of operations the size of Wales. In July, 2 PWRR returned to its Tern Hill Barracks, with just four months to prepare and train prior to its next operational deployment, to take over as the Ballykelly Resident Battalion in Northern Ireland. In February 2008, 2 PWRR moved from Ballykelly, Northern Ireland to Dhekilia, Cyprus and, in June, assumed the role of the Afghanistan Theatre Reserve Battalion (TRB). During its tenure as TRB, Battle Group Headquarters and all Company Groups deployed sequentially to Afghanistan, covering a fifteen-month period, spanning Operation HERRICK 8 with 16 Air Assault Brigade, HERRICK 9 with 3 Commando Brigade, and HERRICK 10 with 19 Light Brigade. During its tenure in the TRB role, the infantrymen of 2 PWRR distinguished themselves during fierce fighting against the Taliban, and were duly honoured with a number of gallantry awards. In December 2008, Battle Group (Centre South) was established, and 2 PWRR assumed that role for the remainder of HERRICK 9, before handing over to 1st Battalion, The Welsh Guards. When, in July 2009, the commanding officer of the Welsh Guards was killed in action, 2 PWRR's commanding officer flew back to Afghanistan (from where he had only just returned to Cyprus) and assumed the role of interim commanding officer of the Welsh Guards. After two years at Alexander Barracks in
Dhekelia in
Cyprus, 2 PWRR moved to
Woolwich Garrison,
London, to take up a
public duties role in August 2010, a role they performed for three years. 2 PWRR then deployed to Cyprus again in 2014, as one of the infantry units rotating between the UK and British Forces Cyprus. In August 2017, 2 PWRR returned to the UK, based at
Kendrew Barracks in Cottesmore, where they reconfigured two companies into a Light Mechanised Infantry force. 2 PWRR re-subordinated to the
Ranger Regiment on 1 December 2021.
3rd Battalion, The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment (3 PWRR) 3 PWRR is an Army Reserve infantry battalion. It was formed by a merger of 5 PWRR and 6/7 PWRR in July 1999. It is headquartered in Canterbury, with companies in: Ashford (A Company), Brighton and Eastbourne (B Company), and Rochester (C Company). It is part of the 20 Armoured Brigade. Since 2022, 3 PWRR soldiers have deployed on operations and training exercises in Cyprus, Ethiopia, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Denmark, Estonia and delivered training to Ukrainian soldiers in the UK. During the Iraq War (2003-2011), individual reservists deployed on Operation TELIC 2, in 2003, from the Portsmouth-based PWRR Company of the
Royal Rifle Volunteers (RRV). The RRV was a multi-cap-badge regiment, which at that time included the Portsmouth-based PWRR Company (until the RRV was later re-designated as
7th Battalion, The Rifles, at which time its PWRR company was placed under command of 3 PWRR, until, later still, being placed under command of 4 PWRR). The Commanding Officer and Regimental Sergeant Major of the RRV, for most of these early operational deployments, were both PWRR Regular officers. Subsequently, from October 2003 to April 2004, during Operation TELIC 3, the RRV provided one of two platoons for ‘Eden Company’; the other platoon was furnished by the
East of England Regiment. Their role was Force Protection Company for HQ 20 Armoured Brigade, at Basra Palace. The commander and sergeant of the RRV platoon both hailed from the Portsmouth PWRR Company, as did a number of its soldiers. Moreover, individual reservists from 3 PWRR were also deployed elsewhere in Iraq on Operation TELIC 3. From May to November 2005, during Operation TELIC 6, the RRV deployed ‘Roebuck Company’, comprising 110 reservists, which included a platoon from 3 PWRR. Its role was Force Protection Company for HQ Multi-National Division (South-East) in Basra, located at the Coalition Operating Base, at Basra Airport. During the War in Afghanistan (2001-2021), the RRV was the third Reserve regiment to mobilise some fifty-four soldiers on Operation FINGAL. The two RRV platoons, which included Portsmouth-based PWRR reservists, deployed to
Camp Souter for a four-month tour from February to May 2003. As part of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), their role was to form part of the Kabul Patrols Company, in concert with A Company, 2nd Battalion, The Royal Anglian Regiment. In May, the RRV was relieved in place by a sub-unit from 3 PWRR, which deployed for a six-month Operation FINGAL tour until September 2003. During Operation HERRICK, which commenced in 2002, PWRR reservists served with both 1 PWRR and 2 PWRR, as well as other regimental battalions. In 2008, seventeen reservists from 3 PWRR served with the 5th Battalion,
The Royal Regiment of Scotland. The London Regiment (LONDONS), a multi-cap-badge regiment, which at the time had under its command a PWRR Company, also maintained a steady flow of individual reservists to Helmand, a number of whom were from its PWRR Company. Moreover, during Operation HERRICK 12, the LONDONS deployed a company of reservists, of whom eighteen were from its PWRR Company. During Operation HERRICK 15, 1 PWRR had forty-three individual reservists from 3 PWRR amongst its ranks. Subsequently, during Operation HERRICK 16, 1st Battalion,
The Grenadier Guards was reinforced by the LONDONS, with thirteen of those reservists from its PWRR Company. Thereafter, in October 2012, during Operation HERRICK 17, 3 PWRR deployed thirty-three of its reservists to Afghanistan. In 2015, in the aftermath of combat operations, 3 PWRR deployed a composite platoon, ‘2 Platoon’, to
Kabul, on Operation TORAL. It operated in the Force Protection role, alongside platoons from 1st Battalion, the Royal Anglian Regiment and the
Royal Australian Regiment, in providing protection for instructors and mentors working at the Afghan National Army Officer Academy (ANAOA), often called ‘Sandhurst in the Sand’. The
UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) is an operation in which, over time, a number of reservists have been engaged. Notably, in 2013, 3 PWRR deployed a cohort of troops on a six-month tour to undertake UNFICYP’s multi-national Mobile Force Reserve (MFR) role. This tour was followed by another the following year, in which ten soldiers from the PWRR Company of the LONDONS deployed. ==Recruitment==