This is the tense moment an armed Queen’s Guard raised his rifle at a ranting would-be intruder outside Buckingham Palace.
The man had been shouting at royal protection officers for five minutes at the royal residence’s north centre gate when the armed soldier intervened.
Witnesses told how the he strode 50 yards from his post to join the confrontation with the intruder, who has since claimed he was expecting a ‘private audience’ with the Queen.
Tense encounter: A member of the Queen’s Guard can be seen levelling his rifle, tipped with a bayonet, at the throat of a man in front of the gates of Buckingham Palace
The man, who has identified himself as Tosin Odunaiya, a 23-year-old Nigerian who came to Britain illegally, said he ‘presumed’ that the Royal Family would welcome him into the palace.
But he was stopped at the gate before the guardsman’s dramatic intervention, which caused his temper to flare.
Speaking to The Sun, he said: ‘I wanted to speak with the Queen and presumed the Royal Family would have welcomed me as their lost son.
Odunaiya, who claims the soldier, a member of the Coldstream Guards, ‘didn’t scare me’ said: ‘I was shouting louder and louder when the Guard came over and started shaking his gun at me.’
Passers-by reported how the would-be intruder said ‘Oh you’re a big boy now’ to the soldier – thought to be Scottish – who in turn replied ‘Yes I am a big boy’ before pushing him.
Royal protection officers then ushered the man away, though he was not arrested.
He told the newspaper that the incident on Friday was his fifth attempt to get into the palace, and that before he has been so sure of being allowed in that he brought a toothbrush with him.
Odunaiya claims that his past visits were made to lobby the Queen over Syria, but that now he just wants help going home to Nigeria – as he hates it in Britain.
It is unusual for soldiers to leave their post unless a Royal is under threat, as the Metropolitan Police are responsible for most issues related to guarding the palace.
But it is believed that the soldier who intervened has the backing of his superiors.
The Metropolitan police said that they gave the man ‘words of advice’.
A spokesman said: ‘An incident occurred at the north centre gate of Buckingham Palace at approximately 17.50hrs on Friday 4th April.
‘Officers from Royalty protection spoke to a male and he was given words of advice. There were no arrests.’
Scotland Yard refused to elaborate on why the man was not arrested.
A statement from the Army said: ‘We are aware of an incident outside Buckingham Palace on Friday and while no one came to any harm and there were no arrests, we are very clear that the Metropolitan Police lead on Royal Security arrangements including outside the Palace itself.’
Source: Daily Mail
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