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Original poster

Royal guard video kicking child in the way

1000 replies

DickMabutt73962 · 29/12/2021 23:23

I wasn't born and raised in the UK and am not into the culture of 'tradition' but I don't understand the majority of reactions to this video blaming the parent and saying of the guards 'it's their job'.

Can anyone more enlightened explain to me why this was necessary? As far as I can see the guard is marching, not saving London from attack. I don't see why a side-step wouldn't work. And if this is a register thing then maybe future control of how close members of the public are able to get in their path

www.indy100.com/viral/queen-royal-guard-trampled-kid-tiktok-video-b1983965

OP posts:
Thread gallery
5
WonderfulYou · 30/12/2021 09:48

The child shouldn’t have been in the way but it’s a child at the end of the way.
There was no threat and the guard wouldn’t have lost his job by stepping out of beat so they didn’t fall over a child.

The guard could have moved an inch to the left or even better put a hand out or turn his head as a gesture that he cared - even if he didn’t.

The kid was in the way.
The guy was an arse for acting like the child didn’t exist.

It does show that the public should not be in such close proximity.
If this was a child in a wheelchair would the guard have to have physically climbed over it. Sometimes we have to use common sense in our jobs.

NewYearNewBeer · 30/12/2021 09:48

Mountain out of a molehill, tbh.

SheldonesqueTheBstard · 30/12/2021 09:48

Frothing where there needs to be no froth.

As a previous poster said - one would wonder exactly why you created this thread.

You wrote I have very little interest in the drama and ceremony surrounding Royal life.

But enough of an ‘interest* to follow with this reply to a post…

quoted post There are some priceless pieces of regalia at the Tower which warrant the Queens Guards.*

Yes, lest the ones that were 'acquired' during colonial rule try to find their way back

Funny that.

Spaghettio · 30/12/2021 09:48

@LegoNinjago

HunterGatherer As for defending the Queen, surely she was safely tucked up in Windsor Castle baby sitting Prince Andrew? I think it stinks (and I have family serving in the army). If you swapped that uniform for a police officers there would be absolute outrage.

This x100

These guards are at the Tower of London protecting the Crown Jewels. They don't just protect the Queen at her residence.
Seb342 · 30/12/2021 09:49

@HereForThis

I'd say that a terrorist could easily do harm to them mid-march if they aren't allowed to respond off-script to unforeseen circumstances, so much so that they weren't able to see the boy in front of them till it was too late. With that hat halfway down their eyes, they aren't exactly equipped for a quick reaction to threats.

Someone could easily get behind them or in front of them, or even shoot them from the side before they'd notice, since they're basically like blinkered horses focused on their path, one step at a time.

I don't think you can compare a terrorist attack with a child who's parents really should have known better.
Branleuse · 30/12/2021 09:49

im pretty anti royalist and anti military, but pretty much everyone in the UK surely knows that if you get in the way of the guards, they arent allowed to stop or move for you and you could get hurt or in trouble. Dont treat them as people, treat them as automatons. The kid is fine. Why wasnt it better supervised?

KeflavikAirport · 30/12/2021 09:49

I would expect soldiers all over the world to be trained to react appropriately to circumstances, which might involve deviating from the usual process in a number of planned ways.

shouldistop · 30/12/2021 09:49

@KeflavikAirport

If I were shouted at by a soldier in a language I didn't necessarily understand, odds would be 50/50 he was telling me to freeze, so I might well stand still and expect them to march round me.
Is the family not American?
mathanxiety · 30/12/2021 09:49

@ufucoffee,
How about this for a plan - you keep on insisting I have used words or phrases I haven't, and I'll keep on congratulating myself for having a better eye for detail than you do, and therefore probably a better observer of TikTok videos than you.

Hint: Ctrl F "thuggery".

Also, full marks for hair splitting - roar/bellow vs. shout.
I invite you to listen again to the sound the Guardsman made and the surprise of the onlookers. The Guards are trained to produce impressive volume. That was most definitely his outdoors voice.

dittheringdoldrums · 30/12/2021 09:49

@Nocutenamesleft

Here’s the post on Reddit from one of the queens guard.
I love that post from the ex-guard!

I've watched the video clip loads of times now. Beyond stopping dead, which they aren't allowed to do, the guard did as much as he could. He tried to sidestep him, the kid then moved into his path again and was bumped over, so the guard stepped high to endure he didn't stand on him. Making it about to be anything else is just ridiculous.
And shame on those who've tried to make it a racial thing too.
There are some hysterical people on this thread.

TheFairyCaravan · 30/12/2021 09:49

I think a lot of people here are being really obtuse and completely missing the point about the impact of this brutal scene

Brutal scene? I think you need some fresh air.

SheldonesqueTheBstard · 30/12/2021 09:51

And as angelon said

Still, never let the truth get in the way of a good story eh??

NewYearNewBeer · 30/12/2021 09:51

Still, never let the truth get in the way of a good story eh??

Yep, that about sums it up, for me.

KeflavikAirport · 30/12/2021 09:52

This family is American. The next one might not be. Again, presuming that every visitor is 100% familiar with the process and react appropriately just seems to me to be asking for trouble. If it's about security, then a degree of flexibility should surely be built into the process to adapt to unexpected circumstances.

WonderfulYou · 30/12/2021 09:52

Kids step out in front of cars all of the time - which is completely theirs/their parents fault.

However the driver will always press the brake or swerve - they don’t just keep going at the exact speed they were travelling.

BellaChagall · 30/12/2021 09:52

People visiting the Tower of London love watching the Guards marching. People saying areas should be fenced off etc - why should the enjoyment of thousands be spoiled because of a few people who choose to be disruptive or not ensure their children are looked after? If the Guards were to stop if people stepped in front of them then I guarantee people would start doing it 'for a bit of a laugh' every day.

TheFairyCaravan · 30/12/2021 09:52

Also, full marks for hair splitting - roar/bellow vs. shout.
I invite you to listen again to the sound the Guardsman made and the surprise of the onlookers. The Guards are trained to produce impressive volume. That was most definitely his outdoors voice.

It was a command for crying out loud. They don’t tend to pussy foot around when giving them

saraclara · 30/12/2021 09:52

Kid gets in the way, is knocked over and guard goes back after to check he's OK.

Yep. That's the whole of the story. But of course that's not exciting enough, and febrile anger needs to be whipped up out of nowhere. So let's cut the bit of video where the soldier goes back, and headline it with the word 'trampled'. That'll get people talking and fuming on chat forums.

Simonjt · 30/12/2021 09:53

@KeflavikAirport

If I were shouted at by a soldier in a language I didn't necessarily understand, odds would be 50/50 he was telling me to freeze, so I might well stand still and expect them to march round me.
Why are so many people pretending the child doesn’t speak English?
HereForThis · 30/12/2021 09:53

Waiting for the little boy to be described as a "huge strapping lad who looks about 17" by the time this thread is done. It's progressing slowly but surely.

KeflavikAirport · 30/12/2021 09:54

I don't think you can compare a terrorist attack with a child who's parents really should have known better.

Ah but the child might have been there to detract attention from a terrorist attack. In which case sticking rigidly to the script you have given the terrorists years to study on video is definitely the bet option.

ufucoffee · 30/12/2021 09:54

[quote mathanxiety]@ufucoffee,
How about this for a plan - you keep on insisting I have used words or phrases I haven't, and I'll keep on congratulating myself for having a better eye for detail than you do, and therefore probably a better observer of TikTok videos than you.

Hint: Ctrl F "thuggery".

Also, full marks for hair splitting - roar/bellow vs. shout.
I invite you to listen again to the sound the Guardsman made and the surprise of the onlookers. The Guards are trained to produce impressive volume. That was most definitely his outdoors voice.[/quote]
But you did use them. That's why I said them. You're lying again. Calm down love.

BertramLacey · 30/12/2021 09:54

@DickMabutt73962

He just walks over him.

Ok on watching it several times more and from other angles it isn't 'kicked' as I previously thought.

But he walks into him, and it honestly doesn't appear to me that it's due to him not having time to react. The child was standing there a few paces before he got to him, and still he walked right through and over him.

Apologies if this has already been said, but if so it bears repeating. This isn't a still from a different angle. It's a still from the original video that has been reversed. Look at the text at the bottom - it's the text from the original but the other way around.

So what's your beef OP? Why are you so keen to portray this as some dreadful incident that you don't even bother to check the basics? Or worse, engineer evidence to try to fool people? The child was pushed into and stepped over. It's not pretty, but it is what happens when you're dozy and unaware of your surroundings and stand in the way of armed guards. They didn't kick a toddler out of the way. It's a much older child and he's probably learned to be a bit more careful.

KeflavikAirport · 30/12/2021 09:56

No-one is claiming this child speaks English. The point is lots of people there don't therefore you can't expect them all to react appropriately to someone hollering "make way".

NotMyselfWithoutCoffee · 30/12/2021 09:56

Tradition or not end of the day it's ridiculous to walk through a child if they are in the way, just step around them.
If this is such a problem they shouldn't be doing it in a public space.
People who are blaming the kid, they are a kid, parents should have been keeping an eye on them.
Also if they really can't see that well why the eff are they carrying loaded guns.

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