The broadcast of the ceremony at the Palace of Westminster in London was stopped while the man was being assisted.
One of the guards in charge of guarding the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, who arrived at the Palace of Westminster in London on Wednesday, passed out just meters from where the monarch rests and fell face down from the first step of the platform.
The moment was caught on camera and quickly went viral on social media. The transmission of the ceremony was interrupted for several minutes, while the man was helped.
The video shows the exact moment in which the guard begins to stagger, and then falls forward, without cushioning the impact with his hands. The cries of some of the people who waited in line to say goodbye to her queen, who will remain in the burning chapel for five days before being buried this Monday at a state funeral, are also heard.
They have not yet confirmed the identity of the man nor have they reported whether he suffered injuries as a result of the blow.
The coffin is placed on a raised platform known as a catafalque, which is guarded 24 hours a day by members of the Sovereign’s Body Guard, the House Division and Yeoman Warders of the Tower of London.
According to estimates, there are more than 15 kilometers in line to enter to say goodbye to the monarch, who died last Thursday, September 8 at the age of 96 at Balmoral Castle in Scotland.
The great security operation
As BBC journalist Daniel Sandford wrote, it is “the most complex security operation London has ever seen.”
He said the queue of people waiting to pay their last respects, which snakes from Lambeth Bridge along the South Bank, “is the most vulnerable point”.
“As the first line of defense against the terrorist threat, police ask citizens to be their own eyes and ears, look out for one another, remain vigilant, trust their instincts and report anything they don’t know. seems right,” they wrote.
According to BBC information, some 1,500 military personnel have been deployed since Tuesday night, including Gurkhas and paratroopers, the Royal Navy Police and the Royal Military Police. Also a Wildcat military helicopter that made several flights over Westminster.
“Police officers armed with binoculars have already been seen on the rooftops of Westminster,” they reported.
Details of the ceremony in Westminster
Access to the hall will be open 24 hours a day until Monday, the day of the state funeral. The coffin is closed and wrapped with the Royal Standard, the flag that represents the sovereign and the United Kingdom. There is also a royal trousseau, including the globe, scepter and Crown of State, the same one the queen wore for her coronation in 1953.
The coffin is placed on a catafalque, or raised platform, in the center of Westminster Hall. Royal guards in tall hats and ceremonial uniform will stand 24 hours a day at each corner of the platform.
When Elizabeth’s coffin was in Scotland this week, it was topped with the Crown of Scotland and an arrangement of white flowers.
The queen’s coffin is made of English oak and reinforced with lead. It was done decades ago, experts say. Sarah Hayes, manager of the Coffin Works coffin museum in Birmingham, England, said former Prime Minister Winston Churchill, the queen’s husband Prince Philip and Princess Diana had similar coffins.
“It’s to preserve the body as much as possible, it’s about slowing down the decomposition process,” he said. This is especially important to the queen because the coffin will eventually be deposited in a church, and will not be buried, she added. The oak is from the estate of the royal family at Sandringham, following royal tradition, she said.
In Great Britain, state honors of the body present are reserved for sovereigns, queens consorts and sometimes prime ministers.
The queen will be buried in the King George VI Memorial Chapel within St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, where her mother and father were buried, and where the ashes of her sister, Princess Margaret, were buried.
ES