… Weeks After Another Fainted During Rehearsals
A guardsman has collapsed during the Trooping the Colour ceremony in London today as the Queen’s official 90th birthday celebrations continue.
The man fell to the floor early on during the festivities at Horse Guards Parade and was stretchered away by officials.
It comes just a few weeks after another soldier collapsed during rehearsals for the event in May, while guardsman have collapsed before in recent years including 2013 and 2011.
The reason is usually a combination of the temperature – today a balmy 22C – and the heavy uniform and bearskin hats the soldiers have to wear.
Source :Reuters
Yesterday an RAF serviceman had to be led away by paramedics after fainting while standing guard outside St Paul’s Cathedral.
The incident happened shortly before the Queen – and hundreds of dignitaries, leaders and members of the Royal Family, arrived at the cathedral for a special thanksgiving service.
Those on duty maintained their professionalism and composure, helping the young serviceman – a member of the RAF Regiment – back to his feet before continuing to stand guard while he was led away.
The Household division took part in the annual display with nearly 1,500 soldiers involved alongside 200 horses and 400 musicians.
Trooping the Colour has been part of the monarch’s birthday celebrations since the mid-1700s and often features the monarch arriving on horseback.
Source :Reuters
The Queen has been unable to do so in recent years, but the tradition was kept up by her children Prince Charles and Princess Anne and her grandson Prince William.
The spectacle in Whitehall honoured the Queen’s enduring ties with her Armed Forces and officially marked her milestone anniversary.
Over the weekend the nation is celebrating the monarch’s long and rich life that has seen her become the longest reigning and oldest monarch in British history.
Cheers from the public in the Mall greeted the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh’s arrival on Horse Guards Parade – Henry VIII’s former jousting yard – where an audience of thousands were seated in stands.
The crowds were treated to the sight of the royal couple in a vintage carriage, Queen Victoria’s 1842 ivory-mounted phaeton, and the imposing presence of The Sovereign’s Escort, mounted troops from the Life Guards and Blues and Royals.
The procession included the royal colonels on horseback – the Prince of Wales, Colonel of the Welsh Guards, Princess Royal, Colonel of the Blues and Royals, and the Duke of Cambridge, Colonel of the Irish Guards.
Source :EPA
On the parade ground in their famous scarlet tunics and bearskins were the Coldstream, Grenadier and Scots Guards – while the Irish Guards lined the Queen’s processional route from Buckingham Palace.
Watching from the Duke of Wellington’s old office that overlooks Horse Guards were members of the Royal Family including the Duchess of Cornwall, Prince Harry and the Duchess of Cambridge who had arrived together in a carriage.
Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3636565/Working-flat-Guardsman-collapses-Trooping-Colour-ceremony-Queen-s-official-90th-birthday-weeks-fainted-rehearsals.html
