[Music]
here's a riddle for you
red jackets unsmiling faces and huge
black
furry hats who are they the university
of houston marching band
well yeah but i'm talking about those
other guys
those are the queens guards in london
the capital city of the uk
these easily recognizable and regularly
photographed guys
may always be in the limelight but i'll
bet there are some curious things about
them you didn't know
counting down from number 11 it's a fact
that
no one is allowed to touch the guards or
threaten them
but it's a widespread myth that they
can't speak
no matter what in this case the soldiers
can't shout a warning
something along the lines of make way
for the queen's guard
besides if an absent-minded tourist
doesn't stay out of their way
the guards have all the rights to knock
them over
so watch out number 10
the queen's guards have to faint
according to protocol
and boy do they faint imagine this it's
the middle of summer
and you're wearing heavy woolen clothes
along with a heavy black fur hat
naturally even the most well-prepared
people can't always cope with such a
trial
but even when a guard faints he has to
do it in a particular way
as soon as he feels dizzy he must remain
at attention
and keep this position even when he
falls
it's called faint to attention and
that's why you won't see
an unconscious guard lying on the ground
in a crumpled heap
number nine the queen's guards are not
allowed to leave their position
no matter what but surely they can have
a bathroom trip when needed
you may ask nope royal guards have
strict instructions to do their
necessities
right on the spot luckily their heavy
woolen trousers are black enough
to cover their embarrassment number
eight
it's also untrue that the queen's guards
aren't allowed to move around
on the contrary they have to do so every
now and then
since staying still for too long is bad
for their health
every 10 minutes the guards leave their
spot
turn march several paces then turn
around
and go back to their place to stand
still for the next 10 minutes
however that's about all the movements
they're allowed to make
no nose picking no scratching an itch no
wiping away sweat not a zippo yet
number seven you've probably noticed
that well most of the time the queen's
guards wear bright red jackets
sometimes you can spot them in long gray
coats
one of the most inventive explanations
to this phenomenon i've come across
sounded like this when the queen is
happy
the guards put on red jackets but when
she's in a bad mood
the soldiers opt for the grey coats well
however cute it may sound nothing can be
further from the truth
the queen's guards wear red jackets in
spring and summer
and long grey coats during the fall and
winter months
the coats are long and warm enough to
allow the soldiers to stay
motionless for a long time plus they
protect the guards against the elements
number six under no circumstances are
the guards allowed to smile or laugh
though it's not for the lack of trying
from the tourists
the truth is that the soldiers train
themselves to remain smile proof
so they don't lose their salary if a
superior notices a guard stretching his
lips in a smile
the guard will face a fine of up to a
week's pay
in most cases the overly cheerful guard
should be ready to park with about 260
bucks
even so from time to time the guards
simply can't help but laugh
as one of them stated some people are
just too funny
number five the queen's guards literally
hate hot weather and i can understand
that
warm clothes heavy hats blazing sun no
opportunity to wipe away sweat wait what
that's not the main reason for their
dislike of scorching days
well it turns out that when the drill
boots stay in direct sunlight for too
long
the polish on them starts to melt it
means that
every time after their shift the guards
have to re-polish their footwear
number four initially the queen's guards
were their tall
fluffy bearskin hats to look more
intimidating and taller
recently they've tried to swap synthetic
fur for the real one
but it didn't seem to work well the
artificial fur
just didn't look as nice as real stuff
plus the color runs easily from it
so they don't last very long on the
other hand
hats made from real fur are impressively
heavy
one can weigh from four and a half to
nine pounds
and when it rains or snows the bare skin
collects
all the liquid and gets even heavier
by the way the hat's strap position
below the guard's nose
serves its own purpose the bearskin hat
is so heavy
that if it's struck or shot in combat it
could easily break the soldier's neck
if the strap was positioned under the
chin
i see how this under nose strap is much
safer but i'm not sure it's that
comfortable at all number three
to become one of the queen's guard you
have to take the barb
which stands for the british army
recruit battery test
it's a half an hour long computer-based
test which checks your problem solving
analytical and logical skills on top of
that
the exam tests if a recruit will be able
to adapt to his role in the future
but even if you've passed the test with
flying colors
there's still one more condition you
need to satisfy
you have to be tall like about six feet
tall
the height requirements used to be six
feet two inches but
recently they've been brought down to
five feet ten inches
number two and one more thing about the
famous
red jackets it's a popular belief that
the queen's guards
started to wear their jackets red
because this way
during combat blood was invisible on
soldiers clothes
and thus didn't demoralize their fellows
but it seems the reason was actually
very different
the red color was chosen because the red
pigment was one of the most
available at those times also this color
needed only
one stage in the process of dying number
one
no doubt the queen's guards have to
follow numerous
rules and regulations but it doesn't
mean they don't have their fun
how about this when the guards get
joined by their regimental ban
for example during the changing of the
guard ceremony
the musicians can play something a bit
lighter than good old patriotic songs
and marches
if you're lucky enough you can hear them
perform the imperial march from star
wars
or even indiana jones and game of
thrones theme songs
so what in your opinion is the hardest
thing about the queen's guard job
i think the bathroom thing might be
pretty tough well let me know down in
the comments
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