Yeomen Warders
ceremonial guardians of the Tower of London
The Yeomen Warders of His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress the Tower of London, and Members of the Sovereign's Body Guard of the Yeoman Guard Extraordinary, popularly known as the Beefeaters, are ceremonial guardians of the Tower of London. In principle they are the palace guard, responsible for looking after any prisoners in the Tower, and safeguarding the British crown jewels. They have also conducted guided tours of the Tower since the Victorian era.
All warders are retired from the British Armed Forces and must be former warrant officers with at least 22 years of service. They must also hold the Long Service and Good Conduct Medal. The garrison consists of 32 (formerly 37) Yeomen Warders and one Chief Warder.
Although the Yeomen Warders are often referred to as Yeomen of the Guard, a distinct corps of Royal Bodyguards of the British monarch, the Yeomen Warders are in fact a separate entity but share with them the nickname, "Beefeaters".
Etymology of Beefeater
The name Beefeater is of uncertain origin, with various proposed derivations. The term was common as early as the 17th century as a slang term for the English in general. The earliest connection to the Royal Household came as a reference to the Yeomen of the Guard by Cosimo III de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, who visited the Court in 1669.
“Yeomen Warders” enters the record as ceremonial guardians of the Tower of London. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Yeomen, Warders and ceremonial can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 21, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q597266. VIAF identifies the subject as 156132473. The Library of Congress control number is n2002070751. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1669.
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This entry incorporates text from “Yeomen Warders” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.