Royal guards are expected to remain stoic and professional at all times while they are on duty. Laughing can be seen as a sign of disrespect or lack of focus and can be interpreted as a sign that the guard is not taking their job seriously.
What happens if a Royal Guard smiles? The Queen's guards are punished with a smile. If they are caught smiling or laughing at their superiors, they will be fined ₤200 (about $260) from their pay.
If a Queen's Guard needs the toilet, they must leave the area to use it. Royal Protocol does not allow for Guards to take toilet breaks while still on duty. Their primary role is to protect the Royal Family, so any request for a break is out of the question.
While on duty, Queen's Guards are not supposed to move or respond to anything that the tourists may throw at them. However, the rules indicate that after being still for at least 10 minutes, they can march up and down the street in order to stretch their legs and avoid passing out.
Being a Queen's Guard is a tough gig and isn't for everyone, as they are not allowed to laugh or show any emotion while on duty. Guards are actively serving the Queen and must follow strict rules such as no laughing.
As London aficionados know by now, one should never touch a member of the Queen's Guard. 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.
They've chatted with Queen Elizabeth II
While the Reddit guard admits that the novelty of meeting important people does tend to wear off, he still remembers his first meeting with Her Majesty. “When I was on guard at Windsor Castle, she came up to me with her husband and the dogs and asked me some questions.
As of Jul 22, 2023, the average hourly pay for a Royal Guard in the United States is $19.36 an hour.
Orders for sentry duty read out before each two-hour 'tour of duty', make it clear that sentries "may not eat, sleep, smoke, stand easy, sit or lie down during [their] tour of duty". Sentries receive instruction on how to eliminate nuisance or any suggestion of threat from members of the public.
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. Check out these ways Queen Elizabeth II sends her staff secret messages.
Bathroom breaks are designated times that they must take while they are on duty. However, they are never allowed to leave their post while wearing their ceremonial uniforms. This means they must change out of their uniform and into their standard infantry uniform before taking a bathroom break.
Do royal guards get paid? They can spend a total of 6 hours a day standing. Do the Queens guards use the bathroom? There are no bathroom breaks, ever.
As some of the best soldiers in the British Army guardsmen have fought in virtually every major area of conflict with great distinction since the 17th Century. The guards do not just perform ceremonial duties at Buckingham Palace, they also take an active role in protecting their Sovereign.
DO NOT TOUCH the guards. Out front you are allowed to have your photos taken and can pet the horses.
Here's some free advice to future Buckingham Palace visitors: When approaching a King's Guard, do not touch them! That's the lesson one woman learned when she recently visited the palace in London.
The soldiers come from active regiments in the British Army, and any action deemed threatening, regardless of how minor, can cause them to react forcefully. If a member of the public touches them or their horse or invades their space, they are allowed to shout clear verbal commands at them to back off.
While the guards rotate every 20 minutes, they may be required to remain completely still for upto six hours in total. The late Queen will lie ...
The first black man to join an elite regiment that guarded the late Queen says writing a book about his experiences was "a coping mechanism" for the racism he faced. Bristolian Richard Stokes joined the Grenadier Guards in 1986 after encouragement from his adoptive father.
In this role, their primary function is the protection duty for the royal residence. They stand guard outside the palace in order to protect the royal residents from any harm. Although the role has evolved into mostly a ceremonial one, almost a tourist attraction, these guards are still first and foremost soldiers.
The guards at Buckingham Palace and St James Palace are on duty for 24 or 48 hours. During that time a Guardsman will have 2 hours on sentry duty and then 4 hours off.
The Windsor Castle guards are an all-female security force that is responsible for the safety of the royal residence and its visitors. The guards are highly trained and armed with a variety of weapons, including handguns, pepper spray, and Tasers.
The sovereign grant was set at £86.3m for 2021-22, according to the royal household's annual financial statement, which it said represented £1.29 per person in the UK. Prior to 2017, the Queen received 15% of the crown estate profits from the two previous years, while the remainder was kept by the government.
Privates in the Foot Guards are all known as Guardsmen whether they are male or female. Junior guards have called for a change to the rank of Guardsman – which largely predates the lifting of a ban on women in combat roles in 2018 – be replaced simply with the term "Guard".
Why do the King's Guards wear bearskin? Bearskin caps were introduced by the British Army following the Battle of Waterloo (June 1815). The idea was to make the soldiers appear taller and more intimidating when in combat.
What happens when someone messes with the Queen's guard? Then they will potentially be physically moved by the guard or the police.