(courtesy thesun.co.uk)

“A soldier at Buckingham Palace pointed his bayonet-fixed rifle at a member of the public after an argument erupted at the gates,” news.yahoo.com reports. “The soldier, on guard duty, left his post to intervene [running 50 yards to do so] when a man refused to stop shouting at a police officer manning the gates of the palace on Friday . . . A police spokesman said the man was given ‘words of advice’ and left. He was not arrested.” But he was intimidated. Or not.

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253 COMMENTS

  1. Even with that rifle, I don’t think I could be too intimidated by a dude wearing a hat like that.

    • It’s to catch the parts that fall off of the rifle as it fires. That is why they have mounted the bayonet.

    • nope it’s a quick-detach cover for the SUSAT optic sight, along with a few other covers for various part of the rifle. I assume these are simply to hide the more “scary” parts of the rifle and give it a more presentable look.

      while their rifles may not always be loaded, the palace guards are definitely carrying loaded mags and are ready to go if need be. however that would mean that the ample police forces typically in the area have probably already failed at their jobs.

      • I found during tours in the troubles, that the Irish in Ulster laboured under a similar misapprehension!

    • Just a quiet city sport
      With a wife and little kids to support
      So immaculately dressed when he walks
      Like a soldier on parade

      He’s a tin soldier man
      Living in a little tin wonderland
      Very happy little tin soldier man
      When you set him on your knee

      Every day you see his army march down the street
      Changing guards at the high road

      He’s a tin soldier man

      Wickie wa waddle doo
      And he’s got a little tin lady too
      Just to put a little shine on his shoes
      And keep his uniform tidy

      He’s a tin soldier man

      Wickie wa waddle doo
      And he’s got a little tin lady too
      Just to put a little shine on his shoes
      And make his uniform tidy

      He’s a tin soldier man
      Living in a little tin wonderland
      Very happy little tin soldier man
      When you sit him on your knee

      He’s a tin soldier man
      He’s a tin soldier man
      – The Kinks

      • It’s Tommy this and Tommy that and Tommy wait outside.

        But, it’s Thank you Mr. Atkins when the band begins to play.

        Rudyard Kipling.

        • Thanks for the reminder, jwm:

          I went into a public-‘ouse to get a pint o’beer,
          The publican ‘e up an’ sez, “We serve no red-coats here.”
          The girls be’ind the bar they laughed an’ giggled fit to die,
          I outs into the street again an’ to myself sez I:

          O it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ “Tommy, go away”;
          But it’s “Thank you, Mister Atkins,” when the band begins to play,
          The band begins to play, my boys, the band begins to play,
          O it’s “Thank you, Mr. Atkins,” when the band begins to play.

          I went into a theatre as sober as could be,
          They gave a drunk civilian room, but ‘adn’t none for me;
          They sent me to the gallery or round the music-‘alls,
          But when it comes to fightin’, Lord! they’ll shove me in the stalls!

          For it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ “Tommy, wait outside”;
          But it’s “Special train for Atkins” when the trooper’s on the tide,
          The troopship’s on the tide, my boys, the troopship’s on the tide,
          O it’s “Special train for Atkins” when the trooper’s on the tide.

          Yes, makin’ mock o’ uniforms that guard you while you sleep
          Is cheaper than them uniforms, an’ they’re starvation cheap;
          An’ hustlin’ drunken soldiers when they’re goin’ large a bit
          Is five times better business than paradin’ in full kit.

          Then it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ “Tommy how’s yer soul?”
          But it’s “Thin red line of ‘eroes” when the drums begin to roll,
          The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,
          O it’s “Thin red line of ‘eroes” when the drums begin to roll.

          We aren’t no thin red ‘eroes, nor we aren’t no blackguards too,
          But single men in barricks, most remarkable like you;
          An’ if sometimes our conduck isn’t all your fancy paints:
          Why, single men in barricks don’t grow into plaster saints;

          While it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ “Tommy, fall be’ind,”
          But it’s “Please to walk in front, sir,” when there’s trouble in the wind,
          There’s trouble in the wind, my boys, there’s trouble in the wind,
          O it’s “Please to walk in front, sir,” when there’s trouble in the wind.

          You talk o’ better food for us, an’ schools, an’ fires an’ all:
          We’ll wait for extry rations if you treat us rational.
          Don’t mess about the cook-room slops, but prove it to our face
          The Widow’s Uniform is not the soldier-man’s disgrace.

          For it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ “Chuck him out, the brute!”
          But it’s “Saviour of ‘is country,” when the guns begin to shoot;
          An’ it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ anything you please;
          But Tommy ain’t a bloomin’ fool – you bet that Tommy sees!

        • We have regarded the Brits as cousins, but I say we regard them as brothers. Totalitarian forces are astir, and the only possible answer to the threat they pose is the English-speaking soldier.

    • It’s easy to see why the British are so loved across the world. A little more fiber in this idiot’s diet and he might actually confess to having a human mother.

      Someone should have squirted some super-glue on the pavement where he was going to stand. I’d like to see him try to look so authoritative after the crowd pees in their pants laughing at this moron as he had to remove his boots.

      • Not sure there’s enough contact points between the boots and pavement for it to work, but it’s a nice thought.

      • British loved across the world (sarc)), not sure your any more popular than we are, Perfidious Albion being something of a lesser insult than the Great Satan!

        • But you’ve got to admit, “Perfidious Albion” sounds a LOT classier.

          Alas, ‘taint so.

  4. Was he doing something he shouldn’t have? I think not. He’s a palace guard. He was guarding the palace. He had no idea what that person’s goal was. It pisses me off a little when soldiers get pigeonholed for doing exactly what they are supposed to be doing.

    • That’s what the German soldiers thought as they were being charged at Nuremberg. Just doing their jobs, eh?

      Mindless devotion to duty, even if rots humanity to the core and benefits only the elite. As long as people so easily act as dutiful pawns, there will always be others who will continue to seek out these weak minded people to use as expendable lab rats.

      • Oh good lord, what can be said about a soldier’s job that won’t draw someone to talk about Nazis? What ridiculous analogy did people use before 1939? Those must have been dark times for people unable to discuss things rationally.

      • I personally think it odd that you’ve just compared a dutiful palace guard dealing with a aggressively rude ‘visitor’….to Nazi war criminals. And your Algebra I teacher? A Nazi for making you do homework and behave in class?

      • Between the nazi and the super glue comments there are days when reading TTAG is like being a fly on the wall in middle school.

      • Thank you so much for that violation of Godwin’s Law there.

        How about a little more critical thought on the OP comment, shall we? There as infantry soldiers who are assigned to guard the palace. It has been that way since the days of 1760s (and if you examine any castle/fort there are always soldiers assigned to the defense of that location, no matter what civilization you are talking about.) In recent years the MPD and the civilian guards have been shocked to find that their security isn’t as tight as it should be. So they turn around and probably have had an adjustment in security procedures with the review of those incidents. So the guard more than likely pushed the “alert button” at his post or the guard noticing the commotion acted on his own initiative based on what he was trained to do and what his mission was of guarding the grounds using what force was necessary.
        In no way does this compare to or is equal to what the SS, Brownshirts and the rest of the Nazis did or where charged with during the various criminal procedures over the last 70s. Thanks for trying and thanks for the total lack of critical thinking you have exhibited. I bet you consider everyone in a position of power and uniform is a goose stepping fascist huh?

        • There is a group of anarchists, sometimes going by the name of Libertarian, who frequent this site who believe that anything other than anarchy is fascism. While they babble about constitutional rights the they have never read document because if they did they would declare James Madison and George Washington to be proto-fascists..

          • Don’t stop now; please do continue. I’m enjoying your twisted take on political science.

        • shire man, it’s kind like the song lyrics posted earlier are saying, it’s cool and hip to brow beat and show disdain for the military forces of whatever country you may reside in. Somehow these fools think that those who wear the uniform have an ounce of concern for what civilians and pogues think of us. These fools believe that comparing us to the war criminal nazi’s somehow makes them superior, apparently telling us of the blood on our hands is supposed to makes us feel like murderous scoundrels. What these idiots fail to understand is that what we do is not about the job we hold, but about the soldier next to us.

      • BR, You are talking shit, he was doing his job. What would bet, that the guy was some rag head running his mouth.

      • Attention: Your comment has been deemed a failure due to Godwin’s law. Thank you for your attention.

    • I picked up a really wicked bayonet for the AK-47. It’s also a switchblade!
      Got it in South Africa for 9 bucks.

      • I have a few AK-47 and AKM bayonets in my collection, and had no idea such a thing existed until now. After googling some pictures I have to ask, are you sure it isn’t just a novelty? Doesn’t look like it’d hold up to much in grungy conditions.

    • Plastic guns have only one use — to kill people. They are useless for crowd control. Back in the day the British Army trained soldiers to wield the rifle like a club from the barrel end. Few crowds of disorderly or rioting civilians would stand up to a company of British soldiers bearing down on them swinging the turned around rifles.

      • Craig has called it, that is pure fiction. In any event where the rifle is not to be or cannot be fired the training is and has been to use the bayonet. The reports of soldiers bashing opponents with rifles held by the barrel are either inaccurate, representative of a melee in which discipline has broken down and training gone to the wayside, or resulting from individual soldiers being unwilling or reluctant to pierce the body of their opponent with the bayonet and thus intentionally using the rifle in a manner in consistent with their training. There is a whole phenomena dealing with the reluctance to cause a blade of any type to penetrate the body of another which was well known even on the Napoleonic and later similarly stylized battlefields. What there is not is any body of training, British or American dealing with wielding the rifle by it’s barrel in club fashion. There is even a good reason for this; Thrusting with the bayonet is more effective, efficient, harder to block and more precise, the latter being the most important. Swinging long rifles about by their barrels like clubs is as dangerous to the other men in ranks as to the enemy and will either result in intramural casualties or else a breaking of ranks as others attempt to avoid being injured by each other.

  8. Ceremonial or not…I can imagine that some of these folks can sling some serious hash if SHTF.

    • After being run over by a car while walking back to post. Then jumped by two fanatics bent on killing a solider that day for Allah.

      • The guy was an army drummer. He had a son. He was killed in the street like a goat in a slaughter yard. Have some respect, Dirk. Just sayin’

        • How the hell is THAT “disrespectful”? You want he should mail you a box of tears?

        • I would hope what Dirk meant was that approaching an aggressive visitor with a bayonet is not the least bit excessive considering what some pig people have done to a British soldier on the street, and recently.

          I can’t be sure, of course, but very much doubt Dirk was keeping some sort of rude score, soldiers versus madmen.

      • REALLY? I don’t see how that crosses the line. A wry comment does not begrieve the family any more, does it?

    • Likely because he was not carrying a rifle OR a bayonet. Disarmed populace applies to disarmed off-duty soldiers as well.

    • you guys are missing the point. it says a lot when someone essentially beheads a soldier. on the street. in broad daylight. then sticks around. waiting. and waiting some more. until someone with a gun shows up . and still not being intimidated.

      for whatever it is worth, that picture says a thousand words. do you see ANY fear in the civilian’s body language? Nope. with a bayonet. on a rifle. an “assault” rifle. pointed in his face. his stance says “F*CK YOU”. that is when it is over.

      even in the US, even when people disrespect those who are armed and protecting us (police, military, whatever). even among the Occupy crowd. Did you ever see someone like this?

  10. Mere peasants have no right to challenge the authority of a woman whose ancestors killed and conquered his ancestors, and who lives like a queen (literally) on the backs of those peasants.

    • What do you mean, exactly? The days are long past, I hope, where we sell the children to pay the debts of the father.

      • With the deficit and projected entitlements this administration has racked up they have sold not only our children, but their children as well into debt slavery to pay the bill.

    • Whatev. The Royal Family costs a fraction of what the Obamas do. They fly first class on commercial jets, they don’t use a fleet of Air Force jets at their disposal.

      Elizabeth II understands the duties of a Queen – Michelle Obama just likes to live like one.

    • It’s one of those things… if you’ve been stupid enough to get a response, it will be the one you deserve.

    • He is not a “beefeater.” The people who you refer to by that name are called Yeoman Warders of the Tower of London. They don’t take kindly to being called that reference. I have had rare privilege of being their guest at the Yeoman Warder’s Club in the Tower of London in November of 2000. It is the most exclusive club in the Untied Kingdom. I consider it the coolest place I have been in 30 years I spend in the defense and intelligence worlds.

      • tdi, thanks for sharing that info.
        You are one of the double handful of posters here that I really look forward to reading comments from-
        not that I agree with all of your points, thats not the point- just that you obviously know a lot about some very interesting stuff, and how that relates to TTAG is hard to find elsewhere.

        burke- not that tdi needs defending, or anything like that but sometimes dude, you so beclown yourself.

        I’m tempted to skip over your posts, as theres increasingly, no “there” there, but I admit to a sick fascination-
        its like I cant help but slow down to look out the window at the rotting squashed mess of road kill that is you,
        on the superhighway of facts here….

  12. Correct position of Bang switch manipulator combine with a bayonet point, I say a well disciplined solider relaying clarity to a citizen.

          • @Michael, no Michael, Google is not my friend. You posted it, you should back it up. But I understand now your reluctance to do so. Oh, BTW, longer barrels have absolutely nothing to do with anything in the accuracy department.

        • The L85 is the Envy of all soldiers around the world. LOL
          Lighten up old chap
          The modern L85 is a great weapon. Had early problems just like the M16.
          If I had my choice I would take a Tavor

          • @Michael, really? That’s the best you can do?

            I’m sure the L85 is a fair weapon once HK got through with it. But it can’t stand in the shadow of its predecessor, nor its rival – the M4. Evidence? No one but the Brits carry it. Not even the Canadians or the Aussies or the Kiwis…..that is a what we call a clue.

        • Now The SLR, a true rifle, but not a patch on the Mighty SMLE in 303.
          Lighten up,
          Want to argue about the best handgun? Bet your a 1911 fan. They all work. I don’t want to get shot with any gun. I like my .22 pistols.

        • Ok you win, The M4 is the best.
          Read my posts, note the irony, the “LOL”
          I know the L85 is not used by many others, Jamaicans and Romanians I think are the only ones to use them, and I don’t believe they bought them. The L85 is now a decent rifle, Like the M-16 it has been surpassed by more modern designs. In tests it performed well, giving better long range accuracy than an M4, probably aided by the standard issue optical sights. Reliability was better than the M-4s.
          On that day, these SA80s/L85s were better than these M4s, No I cannot be bothered to find the article.
          Both rifles are great combat guns, I would be happy with either, but neither would be my first choice. Bullpups take some getting used to, but they have advantages.
          If you think the M4 is great and the L85 is crap well great, good for you

          • @Michael, don’t shift the subject. You are the one that stated the L85 was a better weapon than the M4. And that it was more accurate. I asked you to provide cites to back up that statement. You couldn’t or won’t. No matter.

            The M4 remains the preemininet assault rifle of military/special operations worldwide. Sure, there are others, but the M4 is the standard.

            Have a good one.

  16. Those of you ridiculing that fine gentleman and soldier are a bunch of pubescent pieces of crap. I’d like you to try and ridicule him to his face. He’d tear you apart…

    • You’re right.

      It’s always appropriate to point a loaded firearm at someone who’s saying things.

      -The man said: “Oh you’re a big boy now?”. And the guard said: “Yes I am a big boy”.

      lol.

  17. Maybe people should go read the full story before they come to a poorly derived conclusion.

    • HE YELLED AT SOME LITTLE KIDS, as if they were suicide bombers headed for the Queen’s chambers.

      That’s called “over-reacting”. Pour another drink.

      • I thought the yelling was just right. And the kid laughed, and got of the ‘fence,’ and has a lifetime memory to put up on Facebook/YouTube etc. He’ll be famous throughout middle schools. What is this, some kind of Esalen Institute Potentiality thread? The soldier will get offers from disciplinarian MILFs. It’s a win all around.

        280 years ago they’d have swept the kid into a wagon and sent him as an child indentured servant to Virginia Colony. See, things have gotten better.

  18. Those Bearskins aren’t just worn by anybody.
    Like the Green Berets, only 3 % EARN them.
    Tip o’ the hat to a British Eliete Guard unit.

    • They guard Buckingham Palace from an adoring public. Yeah, stressful job. You never know when a terrorist stray cat might make a run at the palace.

        • “Feel the about the guys at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier?”

          Your sentence makes no sense, but I’ll take a crack at it: you believe that Buckingham Palace is full of the graves of WAR HEROES?

          See? Try thinking, and not reacting mindlessly. Your kids will thank you.

        • Burke your statements about stress and terrorists are about as true of the palace guards as those at the tomb of the unknown soldier… except there’s a lot chance of a terrorist at the palace.

  19. Ralph & William Burke. Those soldiers fought alongside our soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, amongst other places. Again,, I’d really like to see you too ridicule him or any British soldier to their face. Now THAT would be funny…

    • You have a very serious problem: you are unable to separate joking behavior from disrespect.

      Assuming that you have reached the age of wisdom, you need to learn to not over-react to every little bit of humor that somehow pertains to your heroes.

      I dunno what you should do. Maybe watch some old Bugs Bunny cartoons?

      • You seem not to know that the Guard at the palace was putting on show as well. He has a serious a job to do but he also knows that he is there a tourist attraction so when it comes to enforcing a rule he puts on the show of the fierce British Guardsman.

        • You ASSUMED I didn’t know. But I wasn’t really addressing that. I was speaking to those here who seem to think the slightest levity about a person in (a silly) uniform is a grievous slight that must be put to right.

    • Also, say what you will about the royal family’s usefulness, when push comes to shove, they’re not above stepping up and serving their country, I.E, Prince Harry. Can you actually imagine the Obama girls doing the same when they come of age, or even the Bush twins now? I have issues with some of the ways the Brits run their show, but they also have a sense of legacy that I think we as a culture are starting to lose.

    • The issue, IMO, is that too many people today cannot seem to tell the difference between having fun with a concept or tradition and MAKING FUN OF the concept or tradition.

    • OK, I’ll bite:

      What do you think would happen if I ridiculed a British Bear Beret to his face?

      In fact what’s the worse outcome I could expect?

      You think he’d take a swing at me?
      You realize that would make him no more ‘elite’ than a common street thug, right?

      Cops: Why’d you try to punch that man?
      BBB: He made fun of my hat.
      Cops: o_O

  20. Starting from “or not” and the preceding comments…many of you are hypocrites. If it was an American Soldier defending an Embassy or anything that they were assigned to do and a certain type person of the muslim religion did the same thing and was told to leave…none of you would be saying a thing against the soldier. I am done with this BS site that wants you to donate money to them, show wrong pictures of people, call out CTD and then promote links to that site in articles, never call out the NRA and their excessive greed, never blasted LGS for screwing people over during the panic, the love for Shannon Watts, etc, etc…Flame delete, my ass. Frakk it. It has been fun.

    • I was talking about the palace guard who screamed at the little kids, not the other guy.

      Christ, lighten up. Do you act like this in traffic?

      Or were you saying the little kids were dangerous “Muslims”?

    • TTAG wants us to “donate money” to them? I missed that; where is it? I’d like to donate some.

      Jeez, act your age, and not your IQ.

    • Shawn, 150 years ago: “and a certain type person of the injun tribes did the same thing and was told to leave”
      Shawn 125 years ago: “and a certain type person of the I-talianz did the same thing and was told to leave”
      Shawn, 100 years ago: “and a certain type person of the oriental origin did the same thing and was told to leave”
      Shawn 75 years ago: “and a certain type person of the jewish religion did the same thing and was told to leave”
      Shawn, 50 years ago: “and a certain type person of the negro race did the same thing and was told to leave”
      Shawn 25 years ago: “and a certain type person of the mexican kind did the same thing and was told to leave”
      Shawn, today: “and a certain type person of the muslim religion did the same thing and was told to leave”
      Shawn in 25 years: “and a certain type person of the non-fascist persuation did the same thing and was told to leave”

  22. Moving on, the criminal’s name was Fagan? Seriously? Did one of his orphans run into the scullery, or was he on the run from Bill Sykes?

  23. The people making fun of the ceremonial guards need to get back into their cribs. How’d you react if a Brit was joking about our Marine guard at the Tomb? The Brits do a selection for their guards just like we do.

    One can also make a case that the Brits have a tougher job since they have tourists bothering them during their rotation while our guys have some distance and don’t let the tourist get up close and personal.

    • Making fun of ceremony. Get the effing nooses. Stop sucking your thumb over military rituals and GROW UP.

    • Marine guard at the Tomb? your google-fu is weak…The Tomb is guarded by US Army Infantry, not the Marines.

    • That’s not quite correct. All Guardsman will serve as palace guards or at the Tower of London. The fact that they have been selected makes them eligible for duty..

    • I’m routinely amazed at which posts get great milage and which ones drop off the radar quickly. I personally would have guessed this post to get 15-20 comments, max.

      Never could pick a winning horse either.

      • I know, right? We ran a pic of a guy with a gun tattoo that got MILLIONS of views.

      • Guns? Check. Knife on gun? Bonus. Uniformed authority versus non-uniformed shmoe? Check. Brits? Check. Prestigious military unit poorly understood by Americans? Check. Burke and tdiivna have free time on their hands? Check. Brown, possibly Muslim looking dude? Check.

        It does seem to have all the traits of a big time thread, but that’s easy to say after the fact.

        • Hell, all we need now is for Paul McCain to show up haranguing the guard to get more training, and we’ll crash TTAG’s server.

  25. This is one of those moments, one of those incidents, that compels self-reflection.

    What sequence of decisions propels one down such a path, a series of unfortunate events, the final(?) one of which being a beef with a beefeater?

    The following morning in the mirror demands pause and resolve: “This is my life. This is what I’ve become. I have to make some changes.”

  27. In a city largely taken over by musloids, one can never be too careful, to whit the headless soldier on Londonistan’s streets courtesy of a couple of ‘loid fanatics. Good on that soldier for standing his ground.

  28. For those that have been making jokes at this soldier’s expense, I’d be much more shocked and amazed if a Coldstreamer such as he stood by and did nothing in that situation…and the bearskin hat he’s wearing is a mark of honor and should be treated with respect! Do a bit of reading about the Coldstream Guards and their history, and then get back to us…

    • And what “expense” is that? This is so important you had to stop “genuflecting” to a closet full of uniforms to post that?

      And I don’t really mean “genuflect”.

      • …at the expense of the Soldier’s insulted dignity, of course.

        You really are a burke, you should continue genuflecting at the alter of Semper “I”.

        • The soldier may only be “insulted” if I address him directly, if at all. But YOU are more “insulted” that the soldier will ever be. You have set yourself up as an insult proxy. You have no right, and no business, to do that.

          Grow the EFF UP, and stop looking for a fight. This is all the fight you will get from me, loser.

  29. I would say to the guardsman: Well Done!

    He moved to protect a presumably unarmed police officer under verbal assault.
    In doing so, he obviously defused whatever the situation was, without injury, shooting or even an arrest. Sounds like the definition of Peace Keeping.

    Not knowing the Guards standing orders, I assume he was in policy.

    Nothing wrong with tradition and duty and the diligent discharge of them.

  30. @William Burke: Your posts are always horrible and not in the least bit funny. Please stop.

  31. I see a lot of gripe about rights and totalitarian states, that’s BS. Learn to separate the soldier from the politicians. One screws the people and the troops for his own profit, the other gets screwed by the govt and the civs trying to keep his family fed and his men and himself alive. You got words for the state? Don’t throw them at a trooper, no matter how silly his uniform may look. Them troops ain’t supposed to talk on post. But that bayonet ain’t just for show. “I let my L85 do MY talking!”

    • “Learn to separate the soldier from the politicians. ”

      – The soldier carries out the politician’s will. He does the killing that the politician demands.

  33. One of the strangest TTAG threads ever. Half the group appears to be yawning. The second half seems to want to fight the first half for some reason. If I hang around long enough, maybe a hockey game will break out. That would be keen.

  36. Last post on a slow Sunday. Everybody wants to get a word in and there’s nothing more important to talk about.

    The job of these guards is hard enough, standing that post in rain or shine and putting up with all the inspections and preparations and then the goddofful tourists. It is no surprise, and likely official policy, that from time to time they assert themselves rather aggressively just so word gets around that they aren’t to be fucked with.

    My greatest respect goes to the guard who yelled at those kids on the fence – it had to be a Herculean effort to get back on his post without cracking a smile. I bet he and his mates had a great chuckle over pints later that day.

  38. The whole “dress an operator like an idiot” thing amuses me. You’re special. Heres a goofy bear skin dick hat. Swell with pride as you don your goofy bear skin dick hat. Same goes for just about every stupid pin, hat, jacket whatever absurd costume you’re supposed to be proud to wear and others are supposed to you suck you off for wearing.

    The costume detracts from whatever deeds youve done or skills youve honed.

    So much wasted time and resources on these stupid traditions and symbols.

    • Good god, am I taking crazy pills here?

      Did half the people commenting on this thread have their cereal pissed in this morning?

      I’m pretty sure this soldier earned the right to be in the regiment or unit or whatever guarding the F*cking Royal Palace of England.

      Yup, he’s got a silly hat on. And an L85 rifle – I’m pretty sure if he started yelling the last thing on my mind would be “Oh that silly hat! HEEEELLLARRIOUS!”

      • You realize he’s guarding a bunch of do-nothing, tax-guzzling, millionaires whose lives resemble the raunchiest of reality shows, right?

        The post is indeed a joke. Not because of the hat, nor his prior service. But because an actual soldier is being utilized to protect a bunch of parasites who should have long ago been sent off to fend for themselves.

        • “You realize he’s guarding a bunch of do-nothing, tax-guzzling, millionaires whose lives resemble the raunchiest of reality shows, right?”

          Exactly right! Oh, wait – In this country we’ve got U.S. Marines to do that same job job for our do-nothing, tax-guzzling, millionaire presidents and royal family whose lives resemble the most decedent royal privilege of 18th century Europe, but at least we don’t make the Marine Corps guards wear funny hats.

          But we do force them from time to time to hold umbrellas over the Emperor’s head so he doesn’t get damp. I’m pretty sure that wasn’t one of the things that was drilled into them in Boot Camp and during the “crucible.”

          • +10,000, Cliff H. The Royals are disgusting, inbred hyper-parasites, who have contributed ZILCH to the well-being of the British Commonwealth. ALL European royalty is related to one another by blood.

        • Thanks, Alpo. The Royal Family are PARASITES of the highest degree. They do NOTHING for Britain, and take BILLIONS in tax revenue, on the RIDICULOUS proposition that THEIR BRITISH SUBJECTS OWE IT TO THEM!

          To defend the Royal Family is to piss on the feet of the descendants of brave men who threw off the Crown’s yoke.

  40. Wow. What a weird comment thread. I can barely wait until someone makes a crack about the Vatican’s halberd-wielding Swiss guards. Funny hats plus funny pants plus a “useless” weapon (unless you know how to use that combination pike & battleaxe).

    • For that matter, look up some of the equivalent uniforms in Greece or the Balkan states. It’s all part and parcel of traditional uniforms

  41. Imaging the comments if the Soldiers was from a Scottish Regiment. It would not be his hat you were discussing.

  42. I don’t get this post. I’m no fan of any monarchy yet it seems the cop and soldier did their duty, avoided violence, and even respected the rights of the citizen by not arresting the person. I guess the post did its duty by getting me to click on it and comment. Whatever.

  43. Can someone please explain the hats to me? Don’t they obstruct vision (seems like that from what I see)?

    Regarding the guy who said they are as hard won as SEAL badges, those badges look intimidating/cool and demand respect….Bear/beaver hat, not so much.

    • Regiments in the British army only get to wear the bearskin after they’ve had a defining, medal of honor moment as a regiment. There are regiments in the RA that have 300+ years of service history.

      All military units world wide have traditions and symbols that define them and bring the individual soldiers together into a cohesive unit. Or at least help the process.

      Those of us that have served understand this. Many who haven’t served may not understand entirely but they respect the process.

      Those who’ve never served any but themselves, who you would not want to serve or were rejected for service(In itself a defining moment for a few) are full of anger and jealousy of something they really don’t have any understanding of.

  44. Were American, therefore we dont have to show respect to any soldier, tradition, flag, costume, or royal from any other nation. What the soldier did was awesome weird hat, shoddy rifle, shiny bayonet and all. But im not going to drop down on one knee and scream “God save the Queen” either.

    • Per his duty and his orders, this soldier came without hesitation to confront an unknown danger. I’m reasonably certain he would have performed that same duty if it was his job to defend Emperor Obama, Queen Michelle or Tsar Putin who happened to be in the palace that day.

      The purpose of his standing guard at that place does not alter the professionalism and dedication he brings to the job.

  45. All the more reason why government employees should be disarmed when dealing with citizens. No person should have tax payer provided special protection, no matter if they are queen, president, or dog catcher.

    • Kings and queens are expendable, up to a point, and have been routinely expended over the centuries. Dog Catchers are a dime a dozen.

      But in a country where the Supreme Leader is at least theoretically elected by plurality of individual votes it seems odd to consider that the votes of tens of millions of citizens, however foolishly cast, should be entirely negated by one NO vote from a person with a gun or a bomb.

      For better or worse, the leader of a country, however chosen for that position, represents stability, and to expose them and that nation to constant turmoil by allowing any idiot with a grudge to destabilize the government through assassination is ridiculous.

      I have no love lost for our current regime, and I am frankly amazed he has survived this long, but I certainly do not think it would be good for us as a nation to resolve our political differences by shooting the asshole in chief.

      • “I have no love lost for our current regime, and I am frankly amazed he has survived this long, but I certainly do not think it would be good for us as a nation to resolve our political differences by shooting the asshole in chief.”

        Which has been suggested by exactly zero people in this thread, until you brought it up. Straw man, Cliff H. I’m quire surprised you got sucked into attacking what amounts to just some mild joking around.

        ABOUT THE ROYAL FAMILY, no less.

      • As long as you recognize that “stability” is a value-neutral word. Mussolini sought and achieved a sort of “stability”. For a while. In the end, the “stability” proved illusory.

        Churchill provided “stability” of sorts. It does not imply equivalency between Mussolini and Churchill.

  46. @ el mac. No. People were however getting the proverbial panties in a wad over how some folks were judging the Limey.

  47. Everyone is Mr. Tough Guy until a dude with a funny hat and a fruity accent is pointing a rifle at their face.

  48. Nothing says ‘I demand to be taken seriously’ more than a freaking lavender gingham jacket.

  49. PS: I’d really like to know more facts about this situation. There are a lot of comments at the yahoo news source, including what seems to be more Brits with more experience with the military there.

    But I am really more interested in this person, who apparently was shouting at the police at the gates for 5 minutes, and was described as “trying to get closer or get inside”, by one witness.

    http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/gun-drama-at-buckingham-palace-gates-as-queens-guard-points-bayonetfixed-rifle-at-mans-face-9241734.html

    In which case, the guard was doing his job, guarding the palace, and helping the cop with someone he believed to be a threat. Not much to see in that, other than to wonder at the motives and background of the guy shouting at the cops- deranged? lefty having a bad day? Islamofascist earning some brownie points?
    Doing some pre-attack defense checking…Hmmm.

    The take-away for me, again for why I come to TTAG, is what can I learn about this-
    like A81s article on using verbal judo on the con threatening him on a fishing trip,

    what warning signs and tactics should one consider, when faced with someone like this guy confronting the cop, and facing down the guard- clearly something is not right with the black guy in the stocking hat-

    Heres a link- scroll down to Gavin De Beckers “Gift of Fear” and seven signs of tactics a predator would use to take advantage of YOU.

    http://www.functionalselfdefense.org/awareness-prevention

  50. I can’t understand what anyone would have against a soldier who’s acting in defense of his nation. This guy’s job is to guard the palace and the Queen and he damn well did it. An honorable man doing his duty.

    The Brits stand with us all the time. I’d have no problem trusting the soldier in that pic to watch my back.

    • Get this through that thick skull of yours: NOBODY had anything “against” him. Nor did anyone say anything of the sort. We were just joshing around. Try some humor, sometime.

      People will stop looking at you so funny.

      What WAS expressed was disdain/hatred for the Royal Family. And no one could deserve it any more than those disgusting parasites, feeding off the resources of a nation – and for WHAT reasonable purpose?

      • My skull may be thick, but lately, I’ve found better ways to use my time than spending hours on the Internet arguing with anyone who’ll rise to the bait.

        You don’t like my opinion? Then close your eyes when your gaze drifts across it.

        • It’s not really about your opinion. It’s actually more about you. We dislike one another. I get that.

        • Don’t like you? I don’t even know you. That was my first post in this entire discussion, my first post in a week, and you took it as a personal attack. The problem here, Mr. Burke, is all in your mind.

          The name of this site is called The Truth About Guns, not The Truth About You. But you’re not the only one here making that mistake. It’s running rampant.

        • Have you ever considered that maybe a guy who had to get up early for work the next day simply read a few comments at the top, skipped the next 200 or so because he just didn’t give a damn, stuck in his two cents at the bottom, then went to bed?

          For your own sanity, go spend some time at the reloading bench or track down a few boxes of .22LR and shoot up some soup cans. When roughly a quarter of all the responses in an entire TTAG discussion are coming from you, that could be a clue that you need to step away from the keyboard and spend some time at the range.

          That’s all I got. Be offended or don’t – the sun will rise tomorrow either way.

  51. The soldier is in complete control. His right finger is not on the trigger showing he is in complete control of his weapon. The other man, however, we don’t know what his state of control is, he does not wear his training on the outside nor do we know what his utterings were. Perhaps, ‘Hey, man, I am a violent person and I am threatening your personal safety and that which you are protecting’…we just don’t know.

    I, for one, would never walk up to a guard dog that has big teeth and head fake him and taunt him and get him to bare his teeth…it’s a bad idea.

    The soldier simply bared his teeth but was obviously still in control of his weapon. I bet you if that if the resolution of the photo was better, we would probably see that his weapons’ safety switch was ‘on’. He is a professional.

    Just my observation.

  53. “What need is a king, and every now and then if the king’s not doing a good job, we kill him.” – George Carlin

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