Half-length photograph of HRH Princess Elizabeth (b.1926), seated and facing three-quarters right and wearing the uniform of Colonel of the Grenadier Guards.

Following the death in January 1942 of her great-great-uncle and godfather, the Duke of Connaught, Princess Elizabeth was appointed on 24 February to succeed him as the Colonel of the Grenadier Guards. To mark the occasion, the officers of the regiment presented the Princess with a diamond brooch in the form of the regimental badge, as seen in the portrait. The brooch was presented on 20 April 1942 at the Princess’s first official audience, and the following day - on her sixteenth birthday - an inspection of the Grenadier Guards was the Princess’s first official public engagement.

The Grenadier Guards are the most senior of the five regiments of Foot Guards - the others being the Coldstream Guards, the Scots Guards, the Irish Guards and Welsh Guards. Together, the Foot Guards serve as the personal troops of the Sovereign, guarding the Royal Family and fulfilling ceremonial functions as well as normal military duties. The Queen is Colonel-in-Chief of all five regiments.