World Cup: Sweet Caroline and Waltzing Matilda performed at Changing of the Guard

[Video from The British Army]

There was no shortage of support for the World Cup players ahead of England's clash with Australia with the Band of the Welsh Guards sending a special musical message.

Wearing their distinctive red uniforms the band played anthem Sweet Caroline followed by Waltzing Matilda led by conductor Major Lauren Petritz-Watt.

The performance drew crowds to the gates of Buckingham Palace on a sunny day in London during Wednesday's Changing of the Guard.

In England Sweet Caroline has become an anthem for many sports, from darts to rugby league, with fans revelling in the thought that “good times never seemed so good”.

Yet its origin as a sporting anthem appears to be across the Atlantic, where Major League Baseball team the Boston Red Sox lays claim to sparking its popularity.

It is claimed that during a game at the Red Sox’s Fenway Park stadium in 1997, Amy Tobey, an employee in charge of ball-park music, played ‘Sweet Caroline’ because someone she knew had just had a baby named Caroline.

The song was written by Neil Diamond who has sold more than 100 million records worldwide since launching his career in 1962, making him one of the best-selling musicians of all time.

He also wrote I’m A Believer and Red, Red Wine, which spawned covers by artists including The Monkees and UB40.

Waltzing Matilda has often been described as Australia's unofficial national anthem.

The Band of the Welsh Guards formed in 1915, the same year as the regiment, during the First World War.

It is a symphonic wind band and the youngest of the Bands of the Household Division.

Musicians are regular soldiers in the British Army carrying out roles such as medics and drivers.

The band is based at Wellington Barracks in St James’s, London.

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