King's guards practice for Queen Elizabeth II's procession

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A foolish member of the King’s Guard has been criticised by a former senior naval official for bringing the “military into disrepute” after posting a clip online while protecting Windsor Castle. Lord Admiral West, who the former head of the Royal Navy, said the soldier deserves “whatever punishment is thrown at him”.

The soldier in the clip is thought to be part of F Company in the Scots Guards who protect various royal properties.

In the video clip, which was greeted with rage on TikTok, the man said he was “taking the p***” outside the castle.

He can also be heard saying: “I’m meant to be looking after the Royal Family. Currently staring at two ducks.

He adds: “Do I care? No.”

Admiral West described the man as a “stupid idiot” and said he was “clearly” bored but concluded the incident to be “so stupid”.

“He has brought the Army and military into disrepute. He is one of the King’s bodyguards and he was doing this,” Admiral West told the Daily Mail.

“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.”

The clip has been viewed hundreds of thousands of times and drawn criticism from users of the platform.

One user commented: “How to make yourself really unpopular at work really quick.”

The F company is responsible for guarding Windsor Castle as well as the Tower of London and Buckingham Palace. The unit includes new combat infantrymen who do a short tour.

The soldier in the video could receive disciplinary action for his conduct which is believed to be in breach of strict professional standards in the military. 

Others have been more lenient. SAS veteran Phil Champion described the incident as a “silly mistake” which he hoped would not result in too “harsh” a punishment.

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.

“But it’s not funny because of where he is and the gravity of the job he has protecting the royal family.”

He added: “That’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 that once you join the Army or the military, things change. There needs to be better education.”

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