'This is stupid and irresponsible': Netizens outrage over thirsty Queen's Guard outside Buckingham palace amid heatwave

NETIZENS have urged to update clothes of Queen's Guard after the photograph of a guard being given water during the extreme heat went viral.

Social media users have called for providing a weather-appropriate uniform for the Queen's Guard like in Spain where guards wear white shirt, and blue or black trousers.

They are expected to wear 18inch bearskin hats, which are estimated to weigh 1.5lbs, and are expected to work two hours on sentry duty before taking four hours off.

"This is stupid and irresponsible. They should not be standing there in this heat, they have plenty of other security around and they can all wear weather appropriate uniform," said Graham Smith, CEO of Republic on Twitter. 

Britain recorded its highest ever temperature of 40C on Tuesday (19) as a heatwave gripping Europe intensified, forcing train tracks to buckle and fuelling a spate of fires across London.

The Met Office said the provisional record, which still needs to be confirmed, was recorded at 11.50 am at London's Heathrow Airport, surpassing the previous high of 38.7C recorded in 2019.

"Ridiculous! Do guardsmen provide any real security function whatsoever? And, by the way, not a single bear should be killed for this uniform. The royal family like to seem environmentally friendly except when it doesn't suit them," John Dakin, while responding to Smith's tweet said.

"You won't see the a single royal member do this for their people...? Why do they never help us but they expect us to pay them our taxes? Clear example shown right here," said another user.

"What is wrong with wearing greens, open necked shirt, and even having a real sun shade. Just for this week.

Shows how out of touch senior courtiers are, and, by extension, senior military officers who have no choice but to send their soldiers out," Twitter user by the name sofa_surfer said.

A user by the name Wakamandee tweeted: "Its quite stupid tradition. Make no sense at all n any suggestions for change is seen as woke. What kind of silly history to keep by putting another hunan under these circumstances. What does it achieve other than ridicule n shock to many."

User @VeteranIrish said: "Next couple of days will be a tough one for those on Public Duties! Well done that Officer for keeping that guardsman hydrated."

An army spokesperson said that it will put in place additional measures this week such as regular checks, flexible duties, and additional water – to ensure they can continue to safely carry out their duties. The spokesperson added that the Guard Mount at Buckingham Palace was shortened due to the heat on Monday (18).