During the early hours of Thursday, a royal guard keeping vigil over the coffin of the Queen unexpectedly collapsed in front of it.
Videos circulating on TikTok and Twitter capture the moment a black-clad royal guard slumped forward into the stone floor of Westminster Hall, where Queen Elizabeth II is laying in state for the public to pay their respects.
On September 8, after 70 years on the throne of the United Kingdom, the king passed away peacefully at Balmoral. She was 96 years old.
In a video uploaded by TikTok user @bg 8910 on Thursday, which has over 1.6 million views, a guard carrying a staff can be seen stumbling while standing on the red platform displaying the Queen’s coffin and losing his balance moments before collapsing.
Then, it appears that officers rush to his rescue.
According to The Telegraph, the footage spreading on social media originated from a BBC live stream that abruptly ended after the guard collapsed at 12:30 a.m. local time in the United Kingdom.
It is unknown what happened afterwards or what caused the collapse. Buckingham Palace did not react promptly to an inquiry from Insider.
The Telegraph said that the Queen’s coffin, which is open to the public for 23 hours a day until her funeral on Monday, is guarded hourly by Sovereign’s Bodyguard, Household Division, and Yeoman Warders of the Tower of London.
Guards wearing bearskin headgear pose in front of the casket of the queen.
Ben Stansall – WPA Pool / Getty
The Independent said that palace warriors are required to stand completely still and rotate around the monarch’s coffin for as long as six hours during their shifts.
Apparently, the guard was not the only person to collapse since Wednesday, when the Queen’s casket was transported from Buckingham Palace.
Lady Gabriella Windsor, the Queen’s cousin, reportedly fainted when the monarch’s coffin arrived at Westminster Hall, causing a minor ruckus.
According to the publication, she was not spotted again throughout the occasion and was absent from a portrait with the extended royal family.
Buckingham Palace did not react promptly to an inquiry from Insider regarding Windsor.