Page 34 | Royal guard video kicking child in the way

DickMabutt73962 · 2021-12-29T23:23:31+00:00

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

WonderfulYou · 30/12/2021 12:27

If you watch the video, the first family, noticed what was going on and took appropriate action the other family by the looks of it were on another planet. Dopey arses.
We have eyes and ears for a reason.

If a second family wasn’t aware at first then it sounds like there may have been an issue with announcing the guards were coming through.
Maybe the person announced it too late.

TrashyPanda · 30/12/2021 12:28

You don't have to be marching particularly fast to knock someone over if you're a well built man and the person you walk straight into is a child, or someone's deaf gran

I am an older, deaf person. But I’m not glaikit.

Well built men are kind of hard to miss when they are marching two abreast.

Older people aren’t stupid.

anon12345678901 · 30/12/2021 12:28

@Simonjt

Ah, only on mumsnet is a poorly behaved child considered the same as millions of people being tortured and brutally murdered.

By the parents who can never find fault with their own children's poor behaviour, so blame other people 😂

liveforsummer · 30/12/2021 12:30

Why are the people unsuspecting though? Surely that what they are there to see 😆

mathanxiety · 30/12/2021 12:31

Surely you make sure and take into account the situation and place you are in.
Not just wander around in blind ignorance.

Are you always completely sure of your surroundings the minute you arrive? Ten minutes after you arrive? After half an hour?

Have you ever been to an attraction in a foreign country where people's accents are hard to decipher, or where people speak another language, where you perhaps expect people to behave as they would at home because maybe this is your first trip abroad and you have no frame of reference - and certainly no warning from the attraction website - that tells you that in this supposedly civilised country, at this place where the public are clearly welcome, armed men barge through the crowds in formation, roaring at people, and will not step aside no matter what is in their way?

TrashyPanda · 30/12/2021 12:32

until the marching Guards are breathing down your neck and bellowing at you to make way. Even then, you might need to turn around to face them so you could see which way to run

Flip me.

I used to visit Belfast at the height of the Troubles. So I’ve probably had more experience of encountering patrols of armed soldiers than most. Even wearing cammo, they aren’t exactly unobtrusive.

Mushypeasandchipstogo · 30/12/2021 12:34

Just two words IDIOT PARENTS!

loislovesstewie · 30/12/2021 12:34

@mathanxiety

Surely you make sure and take into account the situation and place you are in. Not just wander around in blind ignorance.

Are you always completely sure of your surroundings the minute you arrive? Ten minutes after you arrive? After half an hour?

Have you ever been to an attraction in a foreign country where people's accents are hard to decipher, or where people speak another language, where you perhaps expect people to behave as they would at home because maybe this is your first trip abroad and you have no frame of reference - and certainly no warning from the attraction website - that tells you that in this supposedly civilised country, at this place where the public are clearly welcome, armed men barge through the crowds in formation, roaring at people, and will not step aside no matter what is in their way?

Yes I have; nothing happened to me.

BigFatLiar · 30/12/2021 12:35

I think people do this deliberately to provoke a reaction same as they approach the sentries at attention. I doubt they'd do the same at Arlington during the changing if the guard.

WindyState · 30/12/2021 12:36

@WonderfulYou

I'm no fan of the RF or the military but this is such a non story. The guy has had it drilled into him that he can't stop. He clearly checks his stride and he went back to check the kid was ok.

Can you upload the full video of him going back to check on the kid please because I’ve not seen it?

The family themselves have said the guard came back. Just because it wasn't necessarily filmed doesn't mean they are lying. I mean, why would they?

mathanxiety · 30/12/2021 12:36

Why are the people unsuspecting though? Surely that what they are there to see

They're there to see the Crown Jewels or the well advertised interactive exhibits, or the nice, tame Beefeaters. There is nothing in the website to give tourists any clue that the Guards are not quaint, romantic characters who inhabit the quirky British time warp, that they leave their posts (!) - they don't just stand there all day every day in a state akin to catatonia - and they march into people who are not fast enough on their feet.

Eleganz · 30/12/2021 12:36

Bit of a non-story, although the soldiers probably need to realise that many people including most children will freeze when shouted at rather than move.

Most other countries deal with ceremonial guards by excluding the public from areas where they are marching and performing other ceremonial duties. This is the case for many of the areas where the guards operate so not sure why that isn't the case here.

Jijithecat · 30/12/2021 12:37

I feel like some people have been watching a totally different video to the one I saw.

Anyway I can heartily recommend a visit to the Tower of London. It's very interesting and as I recall we successfully managed to avoid bumping into anyone all day.

NdujaWannaDance · 30/12/2021 12:39

@NdujaWannaDance, I am on the side of the prosecution if the footage of your hypothetical incident shows trampling. I'll check it carefully of course, just as I have checked the TikTok video.

I see someone being trampled on in the video. It's the young child. Are you seriously suggesting that this Guardsman managed to avoid contact between his foot and a child rolling underneath him on the pavement?

No I am not. I am saying that some level of contact between his foot and the child doesn't necessarily constitute the child being trampled. The definition of being trampled is to be crushed underfoot. He wasn't crushed and he barely went underfoot, if at all.

There was ample room on the right to step aside safely. Unlike your scenario, the Guardsman had a choice about where to walk if he wanted to avoid barreling into a young child.

There was ample room in both scenarios. There was a choice in both scenarios. One has been trained to resist the urge to jump away from anything in his path even if it would be the reflexive thing to do in normal circumstances.

The other made a choice that he felt served his interests best in the moment. He did not need to allow his feet to come into contact AT ALL with the policeman. He allowed them to in a split second decision because he didn't want to get caught by the policceman to his left.

anon12345678901 · 30/12/2021 12:39

@mathanxiety

Why are the people unsuspecting though? Surely that what they are there to see

They're there to see the Crown Jewels or the well advertised interactive exhibits, or the nice, tame Beefeaters. There is nothing in the website to give tourists any clue that the Guards are not quaint, romantic characters who inhabit the quirky British time warp, that they leave their posts (!) - they don't just stand there all day every day in a state akin to catatonia - and they march into people who are not fast enough on their feet.

Read the website before claiming that www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london/whats-on/guards-at-the-tower-of-london/#gs.ktnkus read to information for visitors, I'd say it's pretty clear tbh

ChardonnaysPetDragon · 30/12/2021 12:40

It reminds me of the tragic case where a child fell into the gorilla enclosure because the parent could be bothered to look after them and a gorilla had to be put down.

I suspect those parents never noticed the gorillas either.

rockingelephant · 30/12/2021 12:41

@Eleganz

Bit of a non-story, although the soldiers probably need to realise that many people including most children will freeze when shouted at rather than move.

Most other countries deal with ceremonial guards by excluding the public from areas where they are marching and performing other ceremonial duties. This is the case for many of the areas where the guards operate so not sure why that isn't the case here.

Exactly. They become a rabbit in the headlights not knowing where to go all confused and disorientated especially hearing a terrifying shouty soldier voice. The child looks 5-6 at most. The mother was close by as well with two other children. I think definitely the area needed to be cordoned off. If there are silly tourists to pass those as well, I think most of the responses apply in that situation.

liveforsummer · 30/12/2021 12:41

Read the website before claiming that www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london/whats-on/guards-at-the-tower-of-london/#gs.ktnkus read to information for visitors, I'd say it's pretty clear tbh

It's basic the main/most highlighted thing. The Crown Jewels are way down the list

mathanxiety · 30/12/2021 12:43

I used to visit Belfast at the height of the Troubles. So I’ve probably had more experience of encountering patrols of armed soldiers than most. Even wearing cammo, they aren’t exactly unobtrusive.

They never marched straight into people on the street though, that I am aware of.

I had many experiences of them inspecting buses heading from Dublin to Ballyshannon via Fermanagh. They were quiet and thorough and very businesslike.

Do take a look at some videos of people taken completely by surprise at the advance of the Guards through crowded spaces.

Maybe they are surprised because the rational mind can't really believe that this nonsense is happening.

TrashyPanda · 30/12/2021 12:43

@mathanxiety

Why are the people unsuspecting though? Surely that what they are there to see

They're there to see the Crown Jewels or the well advertised interactive exhibits, or the nice, tame Beefeaters. There is nothing in the website to give tourists any clue that the Guards are not quaint, romantic characters who inhabit the quirky British time warp, that they leave their posts (!) - they don't just stand there all day every day in a state akin to catatonia - and they march into people who are not fast enough on their feet.

The website is explicit about the fact there are military personnel on duty and tells you to keep out of the way

“INFORMATION FOR VISITORS

Please be aware that sentries on duty are serving military personnel.

Visitors are advised to be respectful and stand clear when the guards are marching and performing their official duties”

www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london/whats-on/guards-at-the-tower-of-london/#gs.ktqqk4

ILoveYou3000 · 30/12/2021 12:44

@485bantuknots

*It was brutal and unnecessary . Big man boots trampled all over a young child. Where does he think he is, the middle of a war zone?*

Literally!!

Do you understand the meaning of the word literally?

dittheringdoldrums · 30/12/2021 12:46

@mathanxiety

Why are the people unsuspecting though? Surely that what they are there to see

They're there to see the Crown Jewels or the well advertised interactive exhibits, or the nice, tame Beefeaters. There is nothing in the website to give tourists any clue that the Guards are not quaint, romantic characters who inhabit the quirky British time warp, that they leave their posts (!) - they don't just stand there all day every day in a state akin to catatonia - and they march into people who are not fast enough on their feet.

If you had any credibility left, which I don't really think you did, then I think this finished you off. As lots of people have pointed out, it's very clear indeed on the website. So, if people weren't sure if you were making stuff up before, they sure are now.

mathanxiety · 30/12/2021 12:46

Visitors are advised to be respectful and stand clear when the guards are marching and performing their official duties.

Visitors who come from civilised countries have no warning whatsoever from the website that the Guards will be marching through crowds of people on unmarked routes, or that they are prepared and willing to march straight into people inadvertently in their way, bellowing as they approach.

MadameMinimes · 30/12/2021 12:47

@mathanxiety

I used to visit Belfast at the height of the Troubles. So I’ve probably had more experience of encountering patrols of armed soldiers than most. Even wearing cammo, they aren’t exactly unobtrusive.

They never marched straight into people on the street though, that I am aware of.

I had many experiences of them inspecting buses heading from Dublin to Ballyshannon via Fermanagh. They were quiet and thorough and very businesslike.

Do take a look at some videos of people taken completely by surprise at the advance of the Guards through crowded spaces.

Maybe they are surprised because the rational mind can't really believe that this nonsense is happening.

This is breathtakingly ignorant to the point of being offensive.

TrashyPanda · 30/12/2021 12:47

They never marched straight into people on the street though, that I am aware of

That’s cos they would have shot them.

And they certainly weren’t respectful on the buses coming from Andytown into Belfast centre

Being on a rural bus is rather different to being on the Falls Road.