This is the heartwarming moment a King’s guard bursts into tears after being surprised by her parents while on duty in pouring rain.
Crowds gathered around the soldier in the pouring rain outside Buckingham Palace, posing for photographs alongside the guard’s stoic horse.
As a crowd gathers and tourists reach out to pet the horse’s nose, the guard remains still and calm until he spots his parents in the crowd.
The soldier begins to cry and his face starts to wrinkle as his mother and father emerge from a sea of umbrellas and arrive at the front of the crowd of tourists.
As her father, wearing a black raincoat and carrying a backpack, strokes the horse’s muzzle, he appears to be chatting with his excited daughter, who is trying to hold back her tears.
A sombre Royal Guard begins to cry as her mother and father gather around their patient steed to greet her as she guards Buckingham Palace in the rain.
The soldier was surprised when her parents emerged from a sea of umbrellas and jostling tourists to chat with her as she continued with her work.
The overwhelmed soldier wipes away her tears with her immaculate white gloves as her father chats briefly with her.
Her mother then walks to the front of the crowd and asks her daughter a question, to which she subtly nods before bursting into tears and wiping her eyes with her white gloves.
A member of the crowd asks the trio if they would like a photo and they nod as other tourists approach to take a quick nap with the guard and his horse while their parents wait patiently on the sidelines in the pouring rain.
The guard recovers before his parents, who stand proudly on either side of the well-behaved horse, smiling with their hands stuffed into the pockets of their fleece and coat and trying not to get too wet from the heavy rain.
They then walk away and hand the phone back to the mother, who looks at the screen, seemingly pleased with the photo before walking away.
Other tourists continue to stand in front of the guard, petting the horse and posing, seemingly unaware of the emotional encounter the soldier has just had.
The video then shows the guard’s father proudly photographing his daughter riding the brown steed, doing her duty and remaining unfazed and undistracted by the hordes of tourists.
Later in the video, the mother returns to her daughter’s side, petting the horse and speaking briefly to her daughter.
The pair have a brief conversation before the guard kicks his horse and readjusts his position at the guard arch as tourists continue to flock to the iconic monument.
The proud parents then posed with their daughter at their guard post before throngs of tourists descended once again to pose in the rain stroking the horse.
The emotional encounter is a far cry from the usual clashes the King’s Guards have with members of the public.
Despite a sign clearly stating that horses can kick and bite, tourists continue to pose next to them, often at their own risk.
Last month, a tourist threw herself onto the pavement outside Buckingham Palace after she was apparently head-butted by a Royal Guard horse, although not everyone watching was convinced.
The video showed a curly-haired woman standing and smiling next to a black horse as she posed for photos before the horse pushed her.
The woman then dramatically fell to the pavement, landing face down as her purse flew away from her and the gathered crowd let out a worried “ooh.”
In May, a tourist was bitten by a Royal Guard horse after she touched the animal while posing for a photo.
The video, which went viral on social media with more than 855,000 views, shows the woman putting her hand on the horse’s neck as she poses for a photograph.
The horse then turned its head towards the woman before grabbing her sari.
Although many consider them tourist attractions, the King’s Guard are made up of elite soldiers whose mission is to protect the life and property of the monarch.
The King’s Guard are generally not allowed to interact with the public, but they may shout if they get too close or present their bayonets if they become aggressive.
Soldiers must not allow anything to distract them from their duties (bathroom breaks are prohibited during two-hour shifts) and will march past anyone who gets in their way.
Although tourists are welcome to take photos of them, armed officers stationed nearby will intervene if they get too close or behave disrespectfully.
A sign next to the guard warns spectators that the horses may kick or bite and instructs them not to touch the reins.
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