In recent years, we have managed to organize numerous commemorative events dedicated to various periods of the shared history of Russia and the United Kingdom. One such event took place in early April when we hosted a delegation of retired officers from the Royal Regiment of Scotland Grey. They arrived in St. Petersburg to present a copy of the ceremonial uniform of the Honorary Colonel of the regiment to the Tsarskoye Selo museum-reserve.

Why did the Scottish Greys decide to visit Russia? This regiment has long-standing historical ties with our country. Although Britain and Russia fought against each other in the Battle of Balaclava during the Crimean War, where the Scottish Greys distinguished themselves, later, in May 1945, their representatives met with Red Army soldiers in Germany, just before the end of World War II. However, it is most symbolic that Tsar Nicholas II was the Honorary Colonel of the Scottish Greys from 1894 until his death. This title was bestowed upon him by Queen Victoria in honor of his marriage to her granddaughter, Princess Alice of Hesse, who became Alexandra Feodorovna in Orthodoxy. In the uniform of the Honorary Colonel, Nicholas II visited Queen Victoria at the Scottish castle of Balmoral in 1896. The Scottish Greys accompanied him when he arrived in Lithe and at the village station of Ballater.

After the death of Nicholas II in 1918, the ties between the Scottish Greys and Russia were broken for a long time. They were renewed in 1998 when the remains of the last Russian tsar and members of his family were buried in the Catherine Chapel of St. Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg. The nine coffins contained the remains of Nicholas II, his wife Alexandra Feodorovna, three daughters, Anastasia, Olga, and Tatiana, as well as the tsar's chamberlain Alexei Trupp, doctor Evgeny Botkin, cook Ivan Kharitonov, and maid Anna Demidova. The remains of two other children of the tsar, Alexei and Maria, have not yet been buried in the royal burial vault in the Peter and Paul Fortress. The ceremony was attended by Russian President Boris Yeltsin and Prince Michael of Kent. Colonel Andrew Phillips, who then led the Scottish Greys (renamed the Scottish Guard Dragoon Regiment), and three of his colleagues also came to Russia to participate in the mourning ceremony. In memory of this event, the Guard Dragoons received an icon depicting Nicholas II, which later accompanied the British army in Iraq and Afghanistan, being on board the Challenger 2 tank.

The Tsarskoye Selo museum complex already has military uniforms of Nicholas II, including the bear fur hat. The retired officers of the Scottish Greys decided to gift the museum a copy of the ceremonial uniform of the Colonel of the regiment. The delegation was headed by retired Brigadier Melville Jamieson, Lord Lieutenant of Perth and Kinross, who has long been the director of the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo. Colonel Andrew Phillips, who participated in the burial ceremony in 1998, was also part of the delegation.