Our history

The Royal College of Defence Studies, formerly the Imperial Defence College, owes its origins to the recommendation of a Cabinet Committee in 1922 presided over by Winston Churchill, then Secretary of State for the Colonies.

Churchill realised that our soldiers, diplomats, colonial officials and police had different mindsets arising from their background, training and education. The Imperial Defence College was to bring them together and to develop shared understanding and a strategic approach to imperial defence. The RCDS today still fulfills the same function - both nationally for the UK and internationally - albeit in the globalised world of the 21st century and in the service, not of empire, but of international peace and security.

The College was founded in 1927 and was located at 9 Buckingham Gate until 1939. Its work in those days was chiefly concerned with defence of the Empire, with 25 members drawn from the UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.
 
The experience of the Second World War so proved the benefits of such an institution for training senior service officers and government officials that the College was invited to resume its work.

In 1946, the College reopened at its site at Seaford House, Belgrave Square. This was the first time members from the United States attended the course, and we have remained here.

The College was renamed The Royal College of Defence Studies, with the grant of a Royal Charter, in 1970. Participation has been progressively widened to include members from all parts of the world. Representatives from over 40 different countries attend each year, including in recent years China, Ukraine, India, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Poland, Pakistan and Afganistan.

We celebrated our 80th Anniversary in 2007. The occasion was marked by a visit by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and HRH The Duke of Edinburgh.