+1000 respect for the Queen's Guard

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Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2011 1:38 pm

I used to think the Queen's Guard were some kind of funny guys in ridiculous hats you could make fun of when visiting London, but then I found out two things:

A. They don't just stand there, they've participated in numerous wars.

B. They gave a huge finger to sexist Saudi King Abdullah when he went to London by playin the Darth Vader theme Laughing

:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SG23bVpw65o

Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2011 4:01 pm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeiW_bWZ2Is
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWFq-v7TKdQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAzn9V3ha3Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTNfdPxtfek

This is a (very informative, rather entertaining, completely real) guided tour of the Tower of London - all ex-military guys in these formal roles and ceremonial outfits, and it is only the best of them that are invited to the duty!

Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2011 4:36 pm

it's logical. Their duty is to protect the Queen after all, and you want the best guys there for that. Plus, anyone less than a hardcore career soldier just wouldn't be able to carry off a hat like that. You need a bit about you to wear that thing.

Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2011 4:55 pm

I doubt those rifles they carry are real, it would be really difficult to hold them like that for so long

Baiting Guru Joined: 31 Jan 2007 Posts: 12237

@manbiteslion

Great videos, thanks!

Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2011 5:26 pm

Wow they do have my respect for that. Imperial march on a state visit, that is a nice statement.
And as Nailgunner said, those hats are not for everyone.

Edit: MBL, that guy is absolutely amazing. Funny and informative. Thanks for the links.

Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2011 6:26 pm

Great delivery style that guy has, eh? Tongue in cheek, but when he shouts, you listen...

Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2011 7:46 pm

I wonder if this thread has anything to do with "The trooping of the colour" on Horse Guards Parade this Saturday 11th June 2011.

Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2011 7:57 pm

Jim Morrison wrote:

I doubt those rifles they carry are real, it would be really difficult to hold them like that for so long

Some are real. I've been around when they've been loading their guns, they're protecting our monarch afterall.

However, many far from the queen dont, I believe that the Tower Of London guards carry ammunition.

Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2011 8:46 pm

They're real.

Dr. Mike's photo raises questions. I suspect these are not Queen's Guard. Different uniform, different weapon (ours have never routinely issued AR15s) points to a foreign force. But I can't tell whose. Any ideas?

ours are below. Black trousers, SA80 with tidy-up boots on and I note, a BIGGER hat, like a boss.

Full article on bearskins etc Here

I'm sure the boys over at ARRSE could help, they know thir onions.

Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2011 9:12 pm

Maybe the photo with the passed out guy was staged, or maybe it was one of the former colonies? I know that people who know these things can tell you all you need to know with the formation of the buttons on the tunics.

I have every reason to believe the guys around Buck House are carrying live weapons, otherwise they'd pay actors instead! Not much point carrying fakes or empty weapons, eh? And don't forget historically their purpose was very real protection, and history has a way of imprinting itself on everyday life - someone would have to actively repeal the carrying of live weapons, and I can't imagine anyone would see any point in repealing that...

Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2011 7:11 am

Should we ask TheDane if these are Danish?

Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2011 9:41 am

Jeannette wrote:

Should we ask TheDane if these are Danish?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/picturesoftheday/7091819/Pictures-of-the-day-28-January-2010.html

Quote:

27 January 2010: A royal guard lies on the floor after fainting while standing guard at a dinner for Danish parliament members and members of the European Parliament hosted by the Danish Queen at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen...

Looks like you're right Jeannette. Elite Danish forces in action.

Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2011 10:29 am

manbitesleon wrote:

Quote:

I have every reason to believe the guys around Buck House are carrying live weapons

I am not saying they are don't carry real weapons, I just don't think those rifles are real, they are too heavy to carry around like that all day

Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2011 10:42 am

manbiteslion wrote:

Elite Danish forces in action.

Those are not the elite. Those are conscripts like the rest of us, they just serve 3 months longer.

These are the Danish elite corps:
Hunters:

Seals:

And those are about the only part of our defence that works. Very Happy

Praise the lawd for NATO. Very Happy

Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2011 11:46 am

When I was in Turkey, during a visit to the Dolmabache palace I noted that the guards there were carrying loaded magazines for their G3 rifles.

Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2011 9:46 am

manbiteslion wrote:

I have every reason to believe the guys around Buck House are carrying live weapons, otherwise they'd pay actors instead! Not much point carrying fakes or empty weapons, eh?

Tradition dude. Guards on ceremonial duties don't carry loaded weapons.
They're only for show. You don't get to see the guys with the bullets as they're behind the scenes and nearly all of those are coppers rather than soldiers. Saying that, you do sometimes see the odd armed policeman standing at the gates of Buckingham Palace with a Heckler and Koch slung over his shoulder. He's the one with the bullets.

That's not to say you should ever screw with a Guardsman on duty. He still has a big pair of boots, a rifle butt and a rather sharp bayonet stuck on the end of his rifle.

Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2011 12:21 pm

^^ I think they carry a concealed hand gun, like the Swiss Guard at the Vatican City

Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2011 12:45 pm

Nah. Those dress uniforms are big and bulky and starched to the max. It would take half an hour to pull anything out of them.
In the old days they were armed, like mbl says, but nowadays they're there to pull in the tourist dollar.

Quote:

By Christopher Leake
Source: Mail on Sunday 2004

CEREMONIAL troops guarding the Royal Family at Buckingham Palace cannot open fire on terrorists because their rifles have no bullets.

They are issued with live ammunition only when there is a specific threat to the Monarch and the last time this applied was during last year's invasion of Iraq.

But, after recent security scares, including the one this month when fathers' rights campaigners broke into palace grounds, senior Army officers are campaigning for the no-bullets rule to be scrapped.

The same bizarre situation applies to Clarence House the London home of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles Kensington Palace and Windsor Castle.

And, although Britain is on the second-highest level of terrorism alert, the soldiers protecting the Monarch currently the Duke of Wellington's Regiment have no rules of engagement, as they would have if they were in combat.

This means they would have to be given a specific order before firing on an intruder, wasting vital minutes and putting the Royals at even further risk.

The farcical procedure followed in Royal Palaces means that troops are given live ammunition by a senior officer when they report for duty but, once they have checked it, it is handed straight back and locked away in a strongbox in the guard room.

One senior Army officer told The Mail on Sunday last night: 'It is plainly ridiculous that our chaps are being forced to stand guard without any bullets. It is an appalling problem which must be addressed.'

The disclosure that soldiers guarding the Queen carry empty weapons comes as Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir John Stevens and Army chiefs conduct a major review of Royal security.

I read somewhere that they patrol Buckingham Palace at night in regular army gear and that's when they are tooled up. How that would fit in with the police, who also mount armed patrols, I don't know.

Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2011 3:34 pm

Jim Morrison wrote:

^^ I think they carry a concealed hand gun, like the Swiss Guard at the Vatican City

Not a good weapon to mount guard duty with - it requires a lot of training to hit a target beyond about 20 metres with a handgun and even then it's dicey. The police MP5s with red dot sights are spot on (heh) for work like this, they're accurate at range and put down a lot of fire quite quickly. Royal palaces' front gardens are just too wide and open for pistols to be of use.

Inside the building is a diferent matter altogether and I wouldn't be surprised if there were a few hiding under various jackets, just in case.

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