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In contrast to the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force, the British Army does not include royal in its title, because of its roots as a collection of disparate units. A secondary reason for the lack of royal in its title is said to stem from its participation in the English Civil War against the monarchy (although this is rather blurred by the fact that the Royal Navy also sided with Parliament and does have the prefix). It does still come under the command of the British monarch, who is Commander-in-Chief of the UK Armed Forces.
The British Army did not exist as a separate entity before the Act of Union of 1707 which united England and Scotland, but its origins date back to the aftermath of the English Civil War. Before the Civil War, the army was raised as required by the King, who would warrant gentlemen to raise companies, this being a direct throwback to the feudal concept of fief where a lord had to raise a certain quota of knights, men at arms and yeomanry. The only difference up to this point in time being that raising companies without a warrant could be considered treasonable (whereas feudal lords could raise their fief to fight each other).
After the Civil War, parliament assumed control of the Army, and standing companies based on CromwellOliver Cromwell ( April 25, 1599 September 3, 1658) was an English military leader and politician. After leading the overthrow of the British monarchy he ruled England, Scotland and Ireland as Lord Protector from December 16, 1653 until his death, which i's New Model ArmyThis article deals with the English Civil War army. For information on the band, see New Model Army (band). The New Model Army was the most famous of various Parliamentarian armies in the English Civil War. It was an army of professional soldiers led by t formed the concept of the first regimentA regiment is a military unit, typically consisting of around 500-700 soldiers. The term came into use in Europe around the end of the 16th century, when armies evolved from a collection of retinues following knights to a more formally organized structures. Cromwell's companies did not yet assume the unique names that came later to be associated with British Army Regiments, instead they would name their companies after psalms or biblical phrases, or were often identified with the gentleman (typically with the rankMilitary rank or simply rank is a system of grading seniority and command within military organizations. Navy uses naval rate for enlisted men. A separate set of ranks was also used for secular, and occasionally ecclesiastic, rulers, as discussed in Ranks of ColonelColonel ( Ger: Oberst is a military rank, usually the highest below general grades, and just above Lieutenant Colonel. The word is pronounced similarly to "kernel". In the US military, a colonel in the Army, Air Force and Marine Corps is equivalent to a c) who had raised the company, eg Monck's Regiment of Foot. (This particular unit is notable because after the end of the Civil War it was barracked in LondonLondon is the capital of the United Kingdom and of England, and with over seven million inhabitants in the Greater London area, is the second-most populous conurbation in Europe (after Moscow). From being Londinium the capital of the Roman province of Bri, and was involved in defending parliament when it voted for the restoration; this unit is now known as the Coldstream GuardsThe Coldstream Guards are the oldest regiment of the British army in continuous active service, originating in 1650 when Oliver Cromwell founded a regiment for then Colonel George Monck. The grouping of buttons on the tunic is a common way to distinguish.)
With the Restoration of Charles II the concept of standing regiments found favour with the King. As well as retaining some existing loyal standing units, he raised his own, one of the first being the First or Grenadier Regiment of Foot Guards, today shortened to the Grenadier Guards. On January 26th, 1661 Charles II issued the warrant that officially founded the British Army.
The oldest surviving regiment in the British Army is the Honourable Artillery Company (given a royal charter in 1537), now a Territorial Army unit. It is not considered the most senior, however, because it fought on the side of Parliament in the Civil War and so doesn't have unbroken service to the crown. This honour instead goes to the Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers, also now a Territorial Army unit, which was founded in 1539. The oldest surviving regular unit is the Royal Scots, founded in 1633.
The Monarch is head of the Armed Forces and is the only person who can declare war and peace, though these powers are exercised today only on the advice of responsible Ministers. The Bill of Rights of 1689 purports to prevent a standing army in peacetime.
No such prohibition applies to the Royal Navy. Parliamentary consent is currently given by the Army and Royal Air Force Acts of 1955 and annual Continuation Orders passed by Parliament.
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