The guards have been watching over the Queen’s coffin 24 hours a day
The Ministry of Defence has released previously unseen pictures of exhausted beefeaters taking some much-needed rest from guarding the Queen’s coffin.
Behind-the-scenes pictures show a group of the Royal Guards taking one of their allocated 20-minute breaks on shift.
With a tight 24-hour schedule, the beefeaters – a vocation that dates right back to 1485 under the reign of Henry VII – are also joined by Gentlemen at Arms and the Royal Company of Archers to stand guard.
They are required to stand perfectly still and remain vigilant during their shifts in Westminster Hall.
One Royal Guard even fainted during service last week (15 September) due to the ‘brutal’ schedule.
Royal guard collapses while guarding the Queen's coffin, landing face-first on the concrete. pic.twitter.com/IwEwOiYX0K
— PoliticsJOE (@PoliticsJOE_UK) September 15, 2022
Others were also required to think fast after one man tried to grab the coffin before being detained.
Taking to Twitter, the Ministry of Defence shared photos of the beefeaters to ‘honour’ their service to the Queen.
The post was captioned: “The UK Armed Forces are continuing to honour their Commander-in-Chief of 70 years, Her Majesty The Queen, as they stand vigil alongside The King’s Body Guard.”
The post has since wracked up over 6.4k likes, nearly one-thousand retweets and dozens of comments.
One Twitter user commended the work enacted by the ceremonial guardians: “Thank you for your service. We have been thinking about you.”
A second chimed in with: “Amazing experience made possible by these amazing people. Thanks for making it possible for me to say farewell to my beloved Queen.”
The UK Armed Forces are continuing to honour their Commander-in-Chief of 70 years, Her Majesty The Queen, as they stand vigil alongside The King's Body Guard. pic.twitter.com/1iJi4xGGbJ
— Ministry of Defence
(@DefenceHQ) September 18, 2022
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