This marks another viral incident involving the Queen’s Guard. In December 2021, a widely circulated video depicted a child being knocked to the ground by a marching guard.
The footage captured two Guardsmen proceeding at the Tower of London, with one loudly commanding, “Make way!” just before colliding with the child, who fell backward. Despite the alarming scene, the caption accompanying the video read, “Nobody is safe 😢.” However, a subsequent statement from a government spokesman reassured the public that the child emerged unharmed.
In a separate occurrence at Windsor Castle in July 2018, a woman unwittingly crossed over a dividing rope as a Guardsman marched by for a photograph. Unaware of her precarious position, the marching guard nudged her forward.
While not all interactions with the Queen’s Guard are disconcerting, a heartwarming incident from 2017 stands out. During a celebration of a child’s fourth birthday at Windsor Castle, the young boy, dressed as a guard himself, saluted a procession of guards entering the castle. To the delight of onlookers, one guard broke formation, beckoned the child over, and stood alongside him, reciprocating the salute. The guard then performed a quick high-step before resuming the march into the Guardroom.
In explaining his departure from the standard routine, the guard revealed, “Usually I would just take the guardsmen in the guardroom as normal – but my wife and I are expecting a baby boy, and I remembered standing at Edinburgh Castle when I was younger hoping to get a picture with a soldier.” He expressed his pride in being a soldier, particularly moved by the boy’s Coldstream Guards uniform
