Picture with a guard with tall black fuzzy hat in London

The traditional picture that you see is the guard station in front of the Horse Guards gates. You can actually get close. The public is keep back about the width of a football field from the front of Buckingham Palace. Someone who hasn't seen it, hasn't been there.

I wish I could give you an exact location. It may have been the Horse Guards gate. We happened across a gate with the classic guard. I got a picture of my mom with one of the guards. They pretty much stand bolt upright and you can do whatever you want as long as you're not harrassing or touching them.

I second the recommendation of the Clarence House, although I didn't realize what it was at the time I visited. I walked along The Mall from Buckingham Palace back to my hotel at Trafalgar Square and saw on my left two guards in traditional uniform with just four or five tourists surrounding them. Photos were permitted, of course. Looking at a map now, I see that it must have been the Clarence House.

If you want a photo with a standing guard, try the front of St. James Palace. If you want a picture with a mounted guard, definitely head to Whitehall. There will likely be other people trying to get pictures, so be patient. And when it's your turn to stand next to the horse, mind your manners. Horses bite :P

I got mine at St. James's Palace, as Brittany suggested. Remember that although the guard's uniform is quaint, the automatic weapons are for real and loaded. The guards are members of the military and should be treated with respect.

You're referring to the Queen's Guards with the bearskin hats. I'm not positive where you can get your picture taken next to them (but looks like others who posted before me do know). The Household Cavalry is posted at Horse Guards, and they wear a steel helmet with a large plume, not the familiar bearskin. As you indicated, you can walk right up to them here and get your picture. I would love to hear the stream of British profanity that must be going through their heads as tourists jump about and make faces!

Thank you Tom.

That reminds me of a vivid London memory. There's also another cavalry guard stationed on foot within the courtyard of Horse Guards. The day I was there, I witnessed one of the non-commissioned officers storm out of the building to holler at the poor guy on guard, for some minor infraction that went unnoticed by every tourist in the vicinity. He shouted in that incomprehensible but instantly recognizable accent that can only come out of the mouth of a British non-com. I had thought the accent was only a Python-esque stereotype, but there it was in all it's profane glory!