Hilarious moment King’s Guard shout ‘make way’ at PIGEONS in front of bemused royal fans outside Buckingham Palace

The King’s Guard has left royal fans bemused yet again when they shouted ‘make way’ at a pair of pigeons blocking the pavement outside Buckingham Palace.

The soldiers hilariously confronted the birds after they marched out of the palace gates, shouting at them as they walked forward.

Their booming voices yelled ‘make way’ and seemingly startled the birds, causing them to fly off. The guards then continued marching down the pavement. 

Despite many considering them tourist attractions, the King’s Guard consist of elite serving soldiers who are tasked with protecting the monarch’s life and properties. 

Disrespectful tourists have repeatedly sparked anger by ridiculing the King’s Guard, and last week a reel of videos emerged showing the numerous times armed police have been forced to step in and stop them. 

TikTok account @about.London shared footage of the soldiers’ hilarious encounter with the birds earlier today.  

Royal fans are absolutely loving the interaction, with several taking to the comments to express their amusement.

‘The birds shat themselves,’ one TikTokker commented. 

‘The pigeon response to “Make way!” is a 10/10…’ echoed another.

One user added: ‘The birds s**t themselves.’ 

Others were curious about the black briefcase the guards were carrying with them.

‘WHAT’S IN THE BOXXXXX?’ questioned one user. Others, replying to the comment, suggested they were transporting a ‘trumpet’, nuclear codes’ and ‘their tea and sandwiches for lunch’.

The King’s Guard are generally not allowed to interact with the public, but may  shout if they get too close or present their bayonets if they become aggressive. 

The soldiers must not let anything distract them from their duties – with toilet breaks banned during two hour shifts – and will march through anyone, or apparently any bird, that gets in their way. 

Last week YouTuber London City Walks shared a video of groups of visitors to the Horse Guards Parade mocking and laughing at guards and appearing to try to get them to engage.

One ‘idiot’ even tried to grab the reins of a horse, prompting a furious rebuke from the mounted soldier, while in another case a woman was bitten by a mount for getting too close. 

The issue has even attracted the attention of government ministers, including Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and Veterans’ Affairs minster Johnny Mercer, who have backed officers for ordering the troublemakers to move away. 

While tourists can take photos of them, armed officers stationed near them will step in if they get too close or behave disrespectfully. 

And a series of videos show officers have their work cut out.

In the first video, a large group is giggling as they film the King’s guard on foot. Two armed officers step in to ask the tourists to stop as the man filming the clip praises the policemen, saying ‘well done officer’ and ‘that’s it, throw them all out’.

He adds: ‘This is what happens when you disrespect the soldiers here, who are at work, and treat them as though they’re a bunch of clowns here for entertainment.’

The group then shuffle away from the scene.

Another clip sees the narrator follow an armed policeman towards a couple of people who have gathered in front of a King’s Guard. 

The pair decide to argue back with the officer who appears to say: ‘Understand, I don’t know who you are.’ 

The apologetic duo move off as the policeman heads towards the guard, seemingly to talk about the incident. 

A third clip shows a huge crowd standing at a distance outside of the main entrance to witness the changing of the guards.

But one woman rushes out of the audience towards the black gates and has to be quickly stopped by an armed officer.

Another clip begins with loud voices in the distance before the narrator confirms that ‘someone is being shouted at for going into the arches’.

There’s then a tense few moments as we wait for the culprit to appear. A man then emerges from the arches and starts behaving in a confrontational way towards other visitors, pointing and shouting at them.

Officers then march the man away from the area and the man filming says: ‘Bye bye idiot. Off he goes.’

The offender can then be heard telling two police officers not to touch him and to give him a one-metre berth, despite the pair maintaining a reasonable distance. 

The man then points to a female police officer and says: ‘She kicked me from the back.’

The narrator replies: ‘No she didn’t, bye.’ 

And it’s not just the guards who the police are protecting in the videos.

In one, a horse is visibly distressed after a group of tourists crowd around the animal. In two similar scenes, crowds of visitors are asked to leave after appearing to mock a guard in the same corner of the site. 

The Home Secretary last week backed an armed police officer who berated tourists for ‘ridiculing’ a King’s Guard on duty.

James Cleverly’s praise for the officer’s actions came after footage initially posted on TikTok showed a group shouting and laughing at the guard in central London.

It showed the tourists, believed to be American, apparently trying to get the guard to engage with them.

But an armed police officer swooped in to discuss the matter with the guard before warning the group to stop.

‘These soldiers serve their country, they take their job seriously, they are responsible for protecting this facility, they are not an object of ridicule,’ he told them.

In response to a video of the incident shared on X, Mr Cleverly posted: ‘Well said.’

Earlier this year, a female tourist who went in search of a photo with one of the famed Guard got a lot more than she bargained for, while the horse in question left no one in any doubt that it was up to the task of protecting the monarch.

In a video clip, the young woman is seen positioned in line with the horse’s head, ready for her photo opportunity.

While a sign next to the guard warns onlookers that horses may kick or bite, the woman can’t resist raising her hand in an attempt to stroke the animal when it tilts its head to nuzzle her.

Yet as she does so, the horse bites down on the arm of her black puffer jacket and is soon tugging at it in an increasingly aggressive manner.

Even as the woman tries to move away from the horse, it remains attached to her jacket and, moving its head from side to side and up and down, pulls her this way and that with vigour.

While the woman showed signs of fright on her face, she appeared more shocked and bemused by the experience than she was shaken.

When the horse releases her jacket after about five seconds of tugging, she looks noticeably relieved before starting to giggle.

What seems to shock her the most, though, is the hole in her jacket where the horse bit down to reveal the stuffing.

A passerby asks: ‘Is your coat all torn apart now?’ to which she replies with a sheepish ‘Yes’. 

The King’s Guards are posted for public duties outside Buckingham and St James’s Palaces, and at Horse Guards on Whitehall.

Although their role is mostly ceremonial, they are part of the British Army’s Household Division and patrol the palaces, guarding the sovereign at night.

Back in September 2023, another tourist got a little too close to a King’s Guards horse and was blasted by the soldier.

In the video, a throng of tourists can be seen clamoring around a mounted guard on Horse Guard’s parade, Westminster.

Multiple nervous tourists are seen approaching the mounted pair, respecting their distance and posing for smiling photographs.

Some brave souls are seen laying tentative hands on the enormous horse’s flanks which the mounted guard graciously allows.

However, one tourist overstepped the limit, and in the process of trying to touch the horse tampered with the reins causing the King’s Guard to bellow: ‘Do not touch the reins!’

Clearly in a state of shock, the tourist backs away from the horse raising a hand in apology as he does so while the crowd chatter nervously.

In May, footage showed a woman lashing  out at a King’s Guard for ‘pushing’ her out of the way as he carried out his duties. 

The incident, which went viral on TikTok, shows the blonde woman standing in the guard’s way at the Horse Guards Parade.

The woman, who was holding a blue can of Pringles, was seen standing very close to one of the mounted guards, while other bystanders gave the guards more room by standing further away.

Despite the King’s guard on foot asking the woman to step back when he first passed her to salute his fellow guards, she stepped even closer to the agitated horse of the mounted guard.

When the guard that had previously warned her walked back towards the gates, the woman moved right into his path.

He shouted ‘make way’ and used his arm to move the woman out of his path, which left her furious.

She shoved her can of Pringles into the guard and turned around to the crowd asking if they saw what happened, only for another bystander to reply: ‘He asked you to move and you didn’t do it’. 

Still trying to look for sympathy among the gathered crowd, she pulled up her sleeve and claimed she ‘got a broken arm’.

A police officer then appeared, who politely asked her to leave, but the woman continued ranting at the mounted guard and at the policeman.

After arguing for several minutes, the woman finally left the scene. 

But despite videos often showing the Kings’ Guard upholding their duties, there have been moments when they break protocol to make someone’s day. 

An elderly military veteran was treated to the friendlier side of a member of the King’s Guard last July when the soldier moved closer to her as she posed for a photo with her husband. 

A video posted on social media showed the couple – both of whom were proudly displaying their medals – moving as close as they dare to the mounted soldier.

But, having apparently realised they had both served their country, the soldier, who was wearing his customary plumed helmet and armour, quickly urged his horse closer to them before allowing the woman to pat his steed’s nose.

Beaming, the couple then moved away and the soldier directed his horse back into position.

In another show of kindness in the same month, a member of the King’s Guard won praise after going out of his way to make a young man with Down’s syndrome feel comfortable. 

A video of Mike van Erp, 50, better known by his YouTube name CyclingMikey, and the youngster posing for a photo at Buckingham Palace caused a stir after being shared on YouTube.

Footage showed how a kind-hearted member of the King’s Guard moved closer to Mike and the boy who were trying to get a photo to remember their trip to Horse Guards Parade.

Taking to Twitter to post about their day out, Mike – who is a professional carer –  explained: ‘I’ve worked for his family and him for a decade now. 

‘We were out on a cycle ride on my tandem bicycle and stopped by the Horse Guards Parade.’

He admitted that ‘both I and the young lad’ got a bit of a scare ‘when he stepped closer to us’ because it was so unexpected, adding: ‘This left me with tears in my eyes for a few evenings.’

After Twitter users initially thought that Mike was the boy’s father, he clarified: ‘I’m also not his dad, although I’d be proud to be.’

‘I’m very grateful to the soldier,’ he continued. ‘I’m lucky I had good parents and went to a Jesuit school that cared about me and taught me well, same for the young lad I’m with. Tears in my eyes.’

The King’s Guards are posted for public duties outside Buckingham and St James’s Palaces, and at Horse Guards on Whitehall.

Although their role is mostly ceremonial, they are part of the British Army’s Household Division and patrol the palaces, guarding the sovereign at night.

A sign next to the guard warns onlookers that horses may kick or bite, telling them not to touch the reins.