Blimey!
A Buckingham Palace King’s Guard was spotted slipping and falling while on duty. Hoping nobody noticed his toppling, he quickly got back up and acted like nothing happened.
Unfortunately for him, Anthony Smith, a tourist from Liverpool, England, captured the embarrassing moment when the guard landed on his backside.
“I was just filming randomly, and he just slipped right over,” Smith explained to SWNS. “I had to watch the video back to believe it.”
In the clip, the guard wearing a tall bearskin hat and red tunic can be seen walking at attention until one leg loses grip and the man lands on his butt. Spectators in the background can be heard laughing at the downfall.
“People watching were shocked – everyone was saying, ‘did that just happen?’” Smith shared.
Meanwhile, the King’s Guard quickly gathers himself together by fixing his hat and uniform and repositioning his rifle before getting back into position.
“[He] jumped back up quickly and recomposed himself, then he was straight back into action,” Smith said.
Many people found the Palace guard’s mishap hilarious because they are known to maintain a stern demeanor despite how many tourists attempt to break them from their trance.
As previously reported by The Post, a Windsor Castle guard lost his composure in 2018 after a woman allegedly provoked him. A clip revealed that he shoved the tourist who was blocking his path during his routine drill.
“The woman screams in shock before quickly moving aside, and the soldier keeps on marching,” the report read.
According to the British Army, the highly trained men guarding the exterior of the Royal Family’s Palace are trained to be prepared for anything. The job requires candidates to pass a physical fitness assessment and the British Army Recruit Battery test.
However, there are some unspoken rules the guards must follow explained Londontopia. For example, guards cannot be touched if somebody does they have permission to shout at them, guards cannot smile or move around freely while on duty.
“Rules indicate that after being still for at least 10 minutes, they can march up and down the street in order to stretch their legs and avoid passing out,” the site read.
The job even requests their service members to faint in a particular manner.
“If a member of the Guard faints, he must ensure he passes out while still remaining at attention, so this is why you are able to find those images with them lying face down somewhere,” the guidelines continued.
Despite the strict rules, members of the King’s Guard earn a starting salary of around $33,000, and benefits include subsidized meals, free health and dental care, and low-cost accommodation.
