We recently sat down with military magician, Richard Jones! In our most recent interview, the Britain’s Got Talent winner reflected on his experiences in the military and his inspiring journey to success. From parade preparation to marvellous magic, he revealed how the military shaped him into the devoted entertainer he is today.

How has being in the military shaped you as a person?

Megan: “How has being in the military shaped you as a person?”

Richard: “I think in everything I do, I have a certain element of military programming in me now, which means I like to be very prepared for everything. Typically in the army, although I'm trained in combat, the majority of what I do in the army are the parades and ceremonial stuff, so everything we do has to be immaculate. For example, the Queen's Birthday Parade is pretty much an identical parade every year and it has been for hundreds of years. It never changes.

“Most people who do the parade have done it like 15, 20 times, some of them. I've done it a number of times now and it never changes. But regardless, we always prepare for months and months and months and we go through rehearsals after rehearsals and kit inspections and we spend hours. The boots that I wear are knee-high boots, traditionally, so that if anyone tried to use a sword to cut you, it protects your legs while you're on the horse. They take about 6 hours to polish each boot.

"Then once you get on top of the horse, within ten minutes after the inspection, they're usually destroyed, which means the next time you're like two days later when you use them again, you've got to start again with another 6 hours on each boot.”

“Basically, a lot of rehearsing and a lot of effort goes into every little detail. And I find that it's the same reason I think I've done well in magic, especially in a short window. I was only doing magic for about six years before I won Britain's Got Talent. I think it's because I structured everything. I knew what I wanted.

"I was very determined to make being a magician on TV a reality, I planned every stage so that I was never in any doubt of the process of what I was going to follow. I was very well rehearsed, and I think that is because of the army training. They always make sure you're prepared for anything. So definitely, I wouldn't be where I am today if it wasn't for the army training.”

What would you say is your favourite memory of the Household Cavalry?

Megan: What would you say is your favourite memory of the Household Cavalry?

Richard: “I have so many amazing experiences in my mind of being with and travelling around with the army because that's what I always wanted to do. I always wanted to be in the army. I always wanted to be a soldier, since I was a little boy.

"I've got a big army family. Everyone served in either the army or the Navy as far back as we can trace, apart from my sister, but she's a policewoman, so we kind of let her off! One of the best moments, I would say, would probably be the Queen's 90th birthday celebrations. I performed on the Queen's 90th birthday, like, Trooping of the Colour, on Horse Guards Parade, and the BBC zoomed in on me and gave me a shout-out, which I never expected to get on the Queen's birthday, so that was nice.

"But also, we did a big show, which was televised as well. It was the Windsor Horse Show, and they had a big celebration for the Queen's 90th there. I was talking about it the other day. It's such a funny moment because it's this huge stadium with thousands of people all the way around the outside, and the Queen sat in the middle and just out of the arena there are about, maybe 200 horses.

“We're all on the horses, ready to go in and put on this big show for everyone. On the day that the Queen was there before we began, this little baby partridge comes running into the stadium on the parade ground, right in the middle of everyone, thousands of people, and it's the only thing going on. It was just this little partridge running around, and all the crowd laughing. This lunatic partridge running around panicking, like, ‘where the hell am I? It's like I'm in some sort of crazy human show’.

"Then, the parade started, the big drum horses start their drumming and all of a sudden, about 200 horses come cantering into the stadium, this big cheer, and this partridge, just panicking, running around, having a nightmare of a time. And it was so funny. Eventually, it flew out and it got a huge cheer, and the Queen was laughing. It was good fun. So actually, that wasn't technically militarily related, it was just a funny moment.

“I've had Prince William on stage with me in magic shows before and I've performed for Prince Harry a few times for the Invictus Games and some garden parties in Buckingham Palace, they're always really special. I took my mum as well, on BGT, I did a show in Buckingham Palace Garden. I took my mum along with me. So that was quite a special moment.”

How have you supported these charities to bring joy to those in need?

Megan: “You do a lot of charity work and you're a patron and ambassador of multiple charities. How have you supported these charities through lockdown to bring joy to those in need?”

Richard: “In two ways, charities have really struggled during the lockdown. In one way, all of the big fundraising events that they have every year, which fund all of the great work that they do, all got squashed and wiped out in lockdown straight away. On a second level, all of the visits that people, for example, myself, would do for these charities for the actual individuals who are helped by the charities.

"I haven't been able to do that, but the beauty of doing stuff online means that the majority of the charities that I've done, I think they've all had fundraising events to replace the live events. They've all got on board and put together events, which I've done a lot of shows for during lockdown to make sure money is raised to help them. The thing that is nicest and the thing that I enjoy the most is when I do shows for the individuals that we support. I do a lot of shows for a fantastic charity, of which I'm not a patron, but I do a lot of shows for Spread A Smile, which is absolutely lovely.

“They provide entertainment for children who are seriously ill in hospital. Their main job is to make these children smile. It's such a nice charity, they’ve got such a wonderful array of entertainers. For the younger kids, they've got fairies and princesses who, in the real world, when it's not locked down, they would go in. We would all go into the hospitals and entertain them in their hospital beds, but virtually, they all log on to their iPads. If they don't have iPads, the hospitals have been amazing, they've been bringing iPads in for them to make sure that they have access to it, so that's been lovely.

"I've done a lot of shows for them and also some shows for Scottish Little Soldiers, fundraising events. They are a wonderful charity as well, which supports the children whose parents have unfortunately passed away while serving in the forces. That's another lovely charity. I think, in a sense, they've needed more support, probably now in lockdown, than they probably ever needed before. So I think the virtual stuff has been that much more important during this time.”

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