Ceremony Goes Co-Ed at Buckingham Palace
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LONDON — For the first time, women took part Saturday in the 155-year-old changing of the guard ceremony at Buckingham Palace.
The Royal Air Force Central Band, which has nine women among its 50 to 60 members, paraded in the palace’s forecourt before hundreds of tourists lining the palace gates under cloudy skies.
The women tuck their hair inside the same tall fur hats and wear the same blue uniforms as the men. They can wear subtle makeup but no earrings.
A Defense Ministry spokesman said there are no women palace guards yet, although there is no ban against them.
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