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Outrage after viral video shows Queen’s guard trampling child while marching at Tower of London

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) responded after several expressed their anger over the incident

A video of a child getting trampled by a royal guard has gone viral on the internet. The clip was originally shared on TikTok, however, now it’s all over Twitter as well. The incident reportedly happened at the Tower of London when the Queen’s two guards draped in blue-grey coats, bearskin caps, and holding rifles were marching together as a small group of people were watching.

The original video posted on TikTok also included a text that read, “My sister went to England; first day in.” The clip showed the guards moving forward in unison as one of them seemed to shout so that people clear the path but ended up trampling over a kid. However, instead of stopping, he continued with his marching. The collision shocked bystanders as people could be heard murmuring. It also showed a woman, probably the kid’s mother, who immediately went towards him to check if he’s fine.

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According to reports, the TikTok video has been viewed more than 3.9 million times. It has also attracted a lot of comments with a few supporting the guards and some sympathizing with the child. When a TikTok viewer wrote, “Make way for the Queen’s guard is pretty common knowledge,” another one replied: “It’s a child? They might not have known that - have some sympathy.” A person commented that the man “didn’t hurt him on purpose, but they are on guard and move for absolutely no one unless ordered to do so.”

As the clip made its way to Twitter, several people reacted to it there as well. A user tweeted, “All the freaks being like ‘They had to keep marching like this, it's the rules!’ with zero reflection on how maybe those are shitty, arbitrary rules…” Climate journalist Dave Vetter wrote, “This guard will need to be disciplined, there's no excuse for this. The monarchy is only kept around as an atavistic Disneyland for tourists.” “Make me laugh that the guards can do this to an innocent child. I wonder what their reaction would have been to the person they caught in palace grounds not long back? He had a crossbow too. Cheap guards that,” another one added.

A person remarked, “What a weird fucking country we live in.” The second one tweeted, “A country that still obsesses over Kings, Queens, Princes, Princesses and soldiers in fancy dress in the 21st century is the definition of ‘Weird’.” “There’s no reason that monarchy should still exist in this world and waste taxpayers' money for nothing but feed those mascots. So it's weird,” a tweet read.
Royal Editor and journalist Omid Scobie also reacted to the viral video as he said, “The Queen’s Guard are responsible for protecting royal residences and have a pretty no nonsense approach when tourists get in the way (which happens often), however this particular non-threatening incident seems a little unnecessary. Was it *that* important to stay in formation?”

After the incident, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said, “We are aware of an incident at the Tower of London earlier today during a routine patrol. The Guardsmen on duty warned members of the public that a patrol was approaching but the child, unfortunately, ran out in front of the soldier unexpectedly. The soldier tried to step over the child and continued on his duty. Following the incident, the soldier checked on the child and was reassured that all was well.”