The 14th Light Dragoons were formed as early as 1715, being raised by Lieutenant General James Dormer in answer to the threat of war. They fought their first battle against the army of the 'Old Pretender' at Preston in November that year, helping to bring to a close the First Jacobite Rebellion. They served in various wars of the eighteenth century, and most famously in the Peninsular, under the Duke of Wellington. The eagle cap badge was granted in honour of Princess Frederica of Prussia, Royal Patroness of the Regiment and Duchess of York.

The 14th were brought together with the 20th Hussars to create the 14th/20th King's Hussars in 1922. More recently, the merger of 1992 also brought together the old 10th and 11th Royal Hussars in the modern King's Royal Hussars. So it is that the new Regiment boasts a history that combines the story of the Napoleonic Wars, South Africa, both World Wars and most conflicts of recent times.

Fittingly, recruits are still found from the Lancashire area, and the accredited museum relating to the 14th and 20th is housed with the Duke of Lancaster's Own Yeomanry and the Museum of Lancashire on the site of the 1715 battle. The Collection includes a wide range of artefacts and a small number of paintings of regimental significance.