British Guards

So one of my roommates, Natalie, is dating a British bloke, Martyn, who just happens to work as a British guard. Their the guys in the red jackets and big fury hats who are outside of Buckingham Palace and stand so serious and won't smile. Martyn lives in London and comes to visit Natalie on weekends. Well, this weekend he brought with him the guard summer jacket and hat so we could have a photo shoot.

The hat is actually made from black bear fur and costs a thousand pounds. The guards have to wear the hat out in the rain and snow, and sometimes the fur gets really gross and cruddy so they have to wash it with Head & Shoulders shampoo.

There are two types of jackets -

the short red ones for summer and the long grey ones for winter.

The guards work in only 2 hour shifts. It's actually misleading to think the guards can't move or blink or do anything. Guards are allowed to pace if they get tired of standing. They can talk to people, too, just so long as their always aware of whats going on.

This is Martyn wearing his fantastic shirt that reads "I have a body like a god, shame it's Buddha."

Sigh, a British guard...he's so cute!

Next to me is Vanessa, and on the far right is Natalie.

Tourists!

So while the group of us were outside our flat having fun, a British couple walked by and about 5 minutes later, came back around. The guy said that his girlfriend has always wanted a picture with a guard. She was giddy when Martyn took off his hat and put it on her! That of course would never happen if he was actually on guard. Just goes to show, even the natives can act like tourists sometimes.