Queen's guard roars at tourist for touching horses' reins (2024)

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Queen's guard roars at tourist for touching horses' reins? ›

A viral TikTok shows a Queen's guard shouting at a tourist for touching his horse's reins as they pose for a photo. A video shows a member of the Horse Guards shouting at a tourist for touching his horse's reins. In the TikTok video, a guard shouts: "Stand back from the Queen's lifeguard, don't touch the reins."

Although their role is mostly ceremonial, they are part of the British Army's Household Division and patrol the palaces, guarding the sovereign at night. A sign next to the guard warns onlookers that horses may kick or bite, telling them not to touch the reins.

This is a big no no. If a royal guard ever chuckles. or breaks their stone demeanor, they face a 200 pound deduction from their pay. That's why, despite tourist best efforts, you rarely see them laugh. or even crack a smile.

The King's Guard are generally not allowed to interact with the public, but may shout if they get too close or present their bayonets if they become aggressive.

At the front entrance to Horse Guards stands a mounted cavalry member or guard. Each red coated guard “stands guard” on horseback for exactly one hour, impervious to the cameras, selfie sticks, and requests for smiles, in full military regalia.

Well, in short, they don't do very much. When on duty, the Queen's guards are prohibited from leaving their post for any reason whatsoever, this even includes going to the toilet. Thankfully, they're only required to perform sentry duty for two hours at a time, so they don't have to wait too long to visit the loo.

“One should never touch a member of the Queen's Guard,” according to Londontopia. “If this is the case, they are actually allowed to shout warnings at you to make you go away. If people start acting aggressively, the soldiers can even present their bayonets to them.”

What if they're unable to hold their business and really need to go, you ask? They simply just do it anyway, right there on the spot. The thick woolen pants are supposedly able to cover any trace of the “accident.” We're not so sure about the smell though.

The royal guard took to Reddit to clear up 'a lot of false info and myths about what we do'. And this included the infamous no laughing or smiling while on duty rule - turns out that the guard cracking a smile in the video would not get him fired, though he might get a 'telling off'.

No Toilet Break for the Dedicated Soldiers

The Queen's guards are so dedicated to their position that they can't even leave their post for a toilet break during their working shift.

Why can't royal guards talk? ›

Contrary to popular belief, the members of the Royal Guard are allowed to talk, but only in very specific circ*mstances: if people get too close to them or become aggressive. Oh, side note, try not to get in their way because they'll most likely knock you over! You'll also never see one of them smiling for a selfie.

The Guard's intimidating weapons only have ammo in them when they are aware of a potential serious security threat. The guard on Reddit, who uses the username “nibs123,” says that he has never carried a loaded gun as a Guardsman.

Like the brothers of the Night's Watch, members of the Kingsguard are sworn for life and are forbidden from owning land, taking wives, or fathering children.

They are responsible for guarding the Royal Palaces. In London, you can see them outside Buckingham Palace and St James's Palace. While they wear ceremonial uniforms when on duty, these are real soldiers.

The horses are all black three quareter bred Irish draught horses except for the trumpeters' horses, which are grey, and the drumhorses which are large draught horses. They are almost invariably coloured horses, Shires or Clydesdales and are "piebald" (black and white), "skewbald" (brown and white) or roan.

The King's Guards are also often seen atop horses and as we know, horses can be skittish and unpredictable, so walking up to one and trying to pet it might not a good idea. And there's been plenty of times where people who have attempted to do so learnt the hard way - sometimes getting a bite in return.

Once touched it properly, it is easy to cause the horse to lose control. This is not only for the surrounding tourists. Or soldiers will have safety hazards. In addition, if you interfere with the normal work of other soldiers, will also be yelled at.

Because they are human beings doing a job in public places. Not inanimate objects made to look pretty for the pleasure of London tourists. Just like you wouldn't touch a bus driver, a bartender, a tourist information centre staff or the hotel receptionist on your visit to London, you do not touch the guards.

The event is often incredibly rare as most guards have to adhere to incredibly strict rules whilst on duty, which forbids laughing or smiling. This also includes being unable to catch themselves if they faint in the heat.