A visitor attempting to take a photo in front of Buckingham Palace was given a royal fright by a King’s Guard who yelled in her face.
The King’s Guard has been featured on TikTok as the post has gone viral, receiving over 25 million views and hundreds of user comments.
The video shows the lady smiling as she poses with the armed soldier. The unexpected guest, though, seems to touch the infantryman, setting him off.
Suddenly, he brandishes his enormous sword and yells, “Do not touch the King’s Life Guard!”
While the woman appeared in fear, viewers on TikTok were not sympathetic, arguing that the security officer was “simply doing his job” and not there as some sort of tourist plaything.
Several people thought the woman had made a mistake by touching the guy, while others said the officer shouldn’t have yelled at her.
Someone said, “These are the King’s Guards, for f – – k’s sake!”
As one spectator said, “These days, nobody respects anything.”
A British travel site observes that despite the King’s Guard’s severe rules—which include not chatting or smiling while on duty—the soldiers are allowed to warn rule-breaking visitors. According to Londontopia, one should never touch a member of the King’s Guard. They may legally yell at you to get you to leave if this is the case.
It can get serious. If people get violent, the military will brandish their bayonets.
In February, a soldier was guarding his horse when a visitor tried to grip the reins so he could take a photo.
The guard yelled, “Get off!” as the terrified lady recoiled.
She persisted, though, and made another attempt at snapping a shot. As expected, the guard yelled at her even worse, and she gave up and posed for a photo instead.
TikTok users at the time watched and commented on a video of the interaction, and many did not like how persistent she was.
“Imagine you’re trying to perform your work, and someone is always annoying,” another added.
One can imagine. Yes.
