British Royal Household Cavalry Soldier Fainted Ahead Of Hero's Day Commemoration

JAKARTA - A British Royal Household Cavalry soldier fell unconscious before Remembrance Day at Centonaph, London, Sunday.

Citing the Nov. 14 Mirror, crowds eager to witness the memorial were alarmed by the scene, with photos showing the guards lying face down on the ground with their helmets off their heads.

Meanwhile, the soldiers of the British Royal Household Cavalry Regiment remained professional with one member glancing at their fellow guard.

It is currently unknown what happened to the guard or how the soldier's condition was as a result of the alleged fall, which occurred before a two-minute silence at 11 a.m. local time.

To note, the Household Cavalry consists of two regiments, The Life Guards and The Blues and Royals.

This year's event saw a return to the pre-pandemic numbers of those participating, including a number of veterans and serving military personnel.

Hundreds of soldiers and women lined up, with nearly 10,000 veterans marching past the war memorial led by the Coldstream Guards, the oldest continuous regiment of regulars serving in the British Army.

Several thousand spectators queued since 7 am in cold and overcast conditions, traveling from all over the country and abroad to watch the convention.

The crowd was in a happy mood during the past parade, with lots of singing and chanting. This is in contrast to last year's conditions, where the ceremony was closed to the public, with only 26 veterans allowed due to the pandemic.

Meanwhile, Britain's Queen Elizabeth II missed Remembrance Day services due to back pain, prolonging the 95-year-old monarch's absence from public life after she was ordered to rest after being hospitalized last month.

A Buckingham Palace source said the pain was not related to an unspecified illness that caused the Queen to recently visit the hospital, calling it a 'very unfortunate coincidence'.

Originally, the ceremony would be the Queen's first public meeting since she was advised to rest after spending the night in hospital on October 20-21.

"Her Majesty is disappointed that she will miss the service," the palace said in a statement earlier on Sunday, citing Reuters November 15.