Tourists come from all over the world to take pictures next to one of London’s most famous landmarks – a mounted soldier at the Horse Guards parade.
But some people still don’t realize that they’re not just holiday album props, and would actually rather stand guard quietly.
Well-trained horses can tolerate people standing next to them for photos, but everything changes when they try to touch them or pull on the reins.
A soldier will not tolerate this, as one recent visitor to the capital found out the hard way.
Smiling for the photo, she was caught on camera reaching out to grab the reins and a guard quickly yelled at her, “Take off the reins!”
She jumps back for a second before deciding to try her luck another time without noticing the guard.
But he does, and this time he yells at her louder and more directly: “Leave me alone!”
Latest London news
For the latest news from the capital, visit the dedicated Metro.co.uk page.
There are usually two mounted sentries who guard the entrance to the Horse Guards daily, rotating every hour from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm.
They are popular in their own right, but most people come to watch the Royal Life Guards change, which takes place at 11 am on weekdays.
The Royal Life Guards serve exclusively in the Horse Guards building in Whitehall, which was once the main entrance to both St James’s Palace and Buckingham Palace.
This tourist certainly wasn’t the first to be caught by the royal guards, and there’s no shortage of videos of visitors being startled by the yell of “Give way to the royal guards!”
In December 2021, a member of the Coldstream Guard on duty at the Tower of London stepped on a small child.
A spokesman for the Tower called it an “accident” and said the soldier checked on the child’s family and was sure everything was fine.
Contact our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more such stories, check our news page.
