A King’s Guard at Buckingham Palace gave a tourist a royal scare when he screamed in her face as she was trying to get a picture.
A viral TikTok posted on the account called “The King’s Guard Official” has over 25 million views and thousands of comments from users in disbelief.
The clip shows the woman standing next to the armed guard and smiling for a photo. However, the unsuspecting visitor seemingly touched the infantryman and set him off.
Holding up his massive sword, he quickly shouts: “Do not touch the King’s Life Guard!”
While the female tourist appeared terrified, TikTok commenters didn’t show much sympathy for her, saying that the guard was just “doing his job” and isn’t there to be an “attraction.”
“These people are not props for tourists. They are literally the King’s guards for f–k’s sake!” someone wrote.
Another viewer added: “No one respects anything these days.”
“How many times do people have to be told to stay out of their way? Don’t treat them like photo props and don’t touch their horse,” one sternly said.
The King’s Guard has strict rules to abide by, including not speaking or smiling while on duty, but a British travel blog notes that the men are permitted to warn rule-breaking tourists.
“One should never touch a member of the Queen’s Guard,” according to Londontopia. “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.
While many agreed that the lady should not have put her hands on the man, others argued that the guard didn’t need to scream at her.
“Why does he have to yell like that though? Relax guy,” one said, while another chimed in, “Poor girl. She didn’t touch nothing.”
“The way that I would burst out crying,” someone else admitted.
A similar incident occurred in February when a man stood guard on his horse and another tourist attempted to hold onto the reins to snap a pic.
The angry soldier screamed “get off” the horse’s reins and she jumped back in horror.
However, she didn’t let up and she tried to take a photo a second time. Of course, the guard roared at her even louder and she finally abandoned her efforts for a pic.
A video of the exchange was shared on TikTok at the time and commenters also didn’t appreciate her persistence.
“It infuriates me that people cannot listen [and] act like a bunch of children,” a commenter rolled their eyes.
“Imagine you’re trying to do your job and someone’s constantly being obnoxious,” one stated.