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The Green Howards (Alexandra, Princess of Wales's Own Yorkshire Regiment), frequently known as the Yorkshire Regiment until the 1920s, was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, in the King's Division. Raised in 1688, it served under various titles until it was amalgamated with the Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire and the Duke of Wellington's Regiment (West Riding), all Yorkshire based regiments in the King's Division, to form the Yorkshire Regiment (14th/15th, 19th and 33rd/76th Foot) on 6 June 2006.

The regiment was formed during the 1688 Glorious Revolution from independent companies raised in Somerset by Colonel Francis Luttrell, to support William III. In 1690, it supplied detachments for Ireland and Jamaica, incurring heavy losses from disease, including Luttrell who was replaced by Thomas Erle. Transferred to Flanders in early 1692 during the Nine Years' War, it was present at the battles of Steenkerque and Landen, as well as the Siege of Namur. after the 1697 Peace of Ryswick, it escaped disbandment by being made part of the Irish garrison, where it remained until the War of the Spanish Succession began in 1702. In 1703, it was part of an expeditionary force in the West Indies and Newfoundland, losing many men to disease before returning to Ireland in 1704. Back in Flanders in 1710, it took part in the sieges of Douai and Bouchain and when the war ended in 1713, it resumed garrison duties in Ireland. With the exception of the 1719 Vigo expedition, it did not see action again until 1744. The unit was then commanded by Charles Howard and thus known as 'Howard's Regiment'; when it joined the army in Flanders, this clashed with another regiment also commanded by a Howard. To avoid confusion, they were referred to by the colour of their facings, one becoming 'Green Howards' and the other, 'Buff Howards'. The Green Howards fought at the Battle of Fontenoy in May 1745, with a short period in England during the 1745 Jacobite Rising. It took part in the Battle of Rocoux and the Battle of Lauffeld before the 1748 Treaty of Aix la Chapelle ended the war, after which it became part of the garrison of Gibraltar. While there, the 1751 army reforms retitled it the 19th Regiment of Foot. It returned to Britain in 1752 and spent most of the next decade on garrison duty in Scotland and Northern England. During the 1756 to 1763 Seven Years' War, it took part in the capture of Belle Île in April 1761, where it suffered over 200 casualties. The next 20 years were spent on garrison duty in Gibraltar and Scotland, until 1781, when it served in the disastrous southern campaign in the closing stages of the American Revolutionary War. In 1782, all foot regiments without a special designation were given a county title "to cultivate a connection with the County which might at all times be useful towards recruiting" and so the regiment was redesignated the 19th (1st North Riding of Yorkshire) Regiment. It remained there until 1791, when it returned to Britain; in 1796, it was posted to India, the also saw action at the Siege of Seringapatam in April 1799 during the Fourth Anglo Mysore War.

The regiment was known as the Green Howards from 1744. At that time, regiments were known by the name of their colonel. The 19th regiment's colonel was Hon. Sir Charles Howard. However, at the same time, the 3rd Regiment of Foot had been commanded by its colonel Thomas Howard, since 1737. To tell them apart (since they both would have been known as 'Howard's Regiment of Foot'), the colours of their uniform facings were used to distinguish them. In this way, one became 'Howard's Buffs' (eventually simply The Buffs), while the other became the Green Howards. Although the Green Howards were referred to unofficially as such from then on, it was not until 1921 that the regiment was officially retitled as the Green Howards (Alexandra, Princess of Wales's Own Yorkshire Regiment). Under the Childers Reforms, all non royal English infantry regiments were to wear white facings from 1881. In 1899, the regiment was able to reverse this decision with the restoration of the grass green facings formerly worn by the 19th Foot.

In April 1801 the regiment was deployed to Ceylon for service in the Kandyan Wars. The regiment did not return to England until May 1820.

The regiment saw action at the Battle of Alma in September 1854 and at the Siege of Sevastopol in winter 1854 during the Crimean War and then saw action again during the Indian Rebellion. In 1875, Princess Alexandra, Princess of Wales presented new colours to the 1st Battalion at Sheffield, and consented to the regiment bearing her name, thus becoming the 19th (1st Yorkshire North Riding – Princess of Wales's Own) Regiment of Foot. The regiment adopted a cap badge consisting of the Princess's cypher "A" combined with the Dannebrog or Danish cross and topped by her coronet. The Princess became Queen Alexandra in 1901, and was the regiment's Colonel in Chief from 1914 until her death in 1925.

The regiment was not fundamentally affected by the Cardwell Reforms of the 1870s, which gave it a depot at Richmond Barracks in North Yorkshire from 1873, or by the Childers reforms of 1881 – as it already possessed two battalions, there was no need for it to amalgamate with another regiment. Under the reforms the regiment amalgamated with the militia battalions and rifle volunteers in its designated regimental district and became The Princess of Wales's Own (Yorkshire Regiment) on 1 July 1881. The 1st battalion was stationed at Nova Scotia from 1884, moved to the Mediterranean in 1888 where it was stationed at Malta but also saw action in Egypt, then moved to Jersey in 1895 followed by Ireland in 1898. After a brief spell in Gibraltar in 1899, the battalion was posted to South Africa as reinforcement for the Second Boer War, where it was involved in the Relief of Kimberley and the battles of Diamond Hill (June 1900) and Belfast (August 1900). The battalion returned to the United Kingdom in September 1902. The 2nd battalion was in Ireland from 1881 to 1886, when it returned to garrison back home in England. From early 1890 the battalion was stationed in British India, where it took part in military campaigns on the North West Frontier. A 3rd (Militia) Battalion, formed from the 5th West York Militia in 1881 was a reserve battalion. It was embodied in December 1899, and 700 men embarked on the SS Assaye in February 1900 for service in South Africa during the Second Boer War. Many of the officers and men returned home in May 1902 on the SS Sicilia. The 4th (Militia) Battalion, formed from the North York Rifles in 1881 was also a reserve battalion. It was embodied for service on 5 May 1900, disembodied on 2 July 1901, and re embodied again for service during Second Boer War in South Africa. 555 officers and men returned to Southampton by the SS Tagus in October 1902, following the end of the war, and was disbanded at the Richmond barracks. In July 1902, the regiment was redesignated as Alexandra, Princess of Wales's Own (Yorkshire Regiment). In 1908, the Volunteers and Militia were reorganised nationally, with the former becoming the Territorial Force and the latter the Special Reserve; the regiment now had one Reserve and two Territorial battalions. The 2nd Battalion landed at Zeebrugge as part of the 21st Brigade in the 7th Division in October 1914 for service on the Western Front.

From 1949 to 1952, the regiment took part in the campaign against Chinese and Malayan Communist Insurgents in Malaya. Over the next 30 years it served in Afghanistan, Suez, Cyprus, Hong Kong, Libya, Belize, Berlin and Northern Ireland. It also saw action during the First Gulf War in 1991 and during the Bosnian War from 1996 to 1997. Until the regiment's rebadging, the Green Howards was one of five remaining line infantry regiments that had not been amalgamated in their entire history, a claim shared with The Royal Scots, The 22nd (Cheshire) Regiment, The Royal Welch Fusiliers and The King's Own Scottish Borderers. However, on 6 June 2006 the regiment amalgamated with the Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire and the Duke of Wellington's Regiment (West Riding), all Yorkshire based regiments in the King's Division, to form the Yorkshire Regiment (14th/15th, 19th and 33rd/76th Foot). Following further mergers, in 2012, the 2nd Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment (Green Howards) was removed from the order of battle.

Each year, all companies in the battalion took part in a competition, consisting of sports and military skills tests, to win the right to be named 'King Harald's Company', after the regiment's Colonel in Chief. The winning company was given a special flag bearing the King's personal cypher, the Company Sergeant Major was presented with a special pace stick, and all members of the company were permitted to wear a special red badge on the arm of their uniform.

The Green Howards Regimental Museum is located in the old Trinity Church in the centre of the market place in Richmond, North Yorkshire.

1939–1949: Gen. Sir Harold Edmund Franklyn, KCB, DSO
1949–1959: Maj Gen. Alfred Eryk Robinson, CB, DSO
1959–1965: Brig. George Wilfred Eden, CBE
1965–1975: Maj Gen. Desmond Spencer Gordon, CB, CBE, DSO, JP
1975–1982: Brig. John Britton Oldfield, OBE, DL
1982–1994: F. M. The Rt. Hon. Peter Anthony Inge, The Baron Inge, KG, GCB
1994–2003: Gen. Sir Francis Richard Dannatt, KCB, CBE, MC
2003–2006: Brig. John Stewart Wadsworth Powell, OBE

The precise date on which the regiment adopted the green facings from which it derived its name is uncertain, with yellow known to have been the colour of the lapels in 1709. However the official Cloathing Book of 1742 shows full green facings being worn on the standard red coats of the era. Thereafter the actual shade of the regimental colour changed at various times from yellow green to a dull green. White facings were worn from 1881 until 1899 when green was restored. The remaining features of the Green Howard's uniform followed the normal British infantry progression from red coat to scarlet tunic to khaki service dress and battle dress.