King's Guard who filmed himself gyrating against his rifle on duty branded 'bloody stupid idiot'
3 January 2023, 12:13 | Updated: 3 January 2023, 12:28
A member of the King's Guard has sparked outrage after filming himself gyrating against his rifle while on duty.
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The video, which has been posted to TikTok, also shows him staring at ducks while on the job protecting the royal family.
The guard says in the video: "I am currently standing outside Windsor Castle.
"I'm meant to be looking after the Royal Family. Currently staring at two ducks. Do I care? No."
The clip has been viewed thousands of times, with many people criticising the guard for his careless attitude towards his position.
One commenter said: "If it's legit it's his last time on post", while another added: "Keep us updated on your career plz".
Admiral West, the former head of the royal navy, told the MailOnline that the guard was "a stupid idiot."
He added: "You always get people who are bloody stupid, and clearly he was bored. But this is so stupid. 'He has brought the Army and military into disrepute.
"He is one of the King's bodyguards and he was doing this. He is meant to be guarding the king not filming a video on his phone. It's an absolutely stupid bloody thing to do. He is a stupid soldier.
"Once upon time, this would have been a private thing but now with social media it's all over the world. He deserves whatever punishment the army is going to throw at him."
But SAS veteran Phil Campion said the soldier's video was a "silly mistake" and said he hoped that his punishment was not too severe.
He said: "This is a young lad doing something stupid and trying to be a bit edgy, making a name for themselves. It's a mistake anyone can make. You can make an idiot of yourself pretty quickly doing the wrong thing.
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"But it's not funny because of where he is and the gravity of the job he has protecting the royal family."
Mr Campion added that he hoped the punishment would not be too "harsh".
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"I hope someone will see sense," he said. T"hat's no more than a couple of days pay [being docked] and sitting in front of a guardroom.
"I have a rule to myself because I have fallen foul on social media before - if you have to think about it more than once I don't post it. With them being the TikTok generations maybe in their basic training there should be 45 minutes spent.
"People need to understand once you join the Army or the military, things change. There needs to be better education."
