Every morning, Marie Dupin slips into the skin of a personality, an event, a place or a fact at the heart of the news.
Saturday June 17 King Charles III will celebrate his birthday. The previous weekend, June 10, nearly 1,200 Royal Guards marched through the British capital, dressed in their famous red uniforms, for the rehearsal of the anniversary parade: the Trooping the Color parade. A parade supervised by Prince William, himself, on horseback in overwhelming heat, 30 degrees in the British capital. Unheard of at this time of year for over 20 years.
Result: three royal guards victims of discomfort, fallen face down on the ground as they learned to do as part of their military training, the fact of falling head first being the best way to pass out without disturbing the smooth running of the parades. Prince William also praised at the end of the day on Twitter the very good work of the soldiers despite the “Difficult conditions”.
Discomfort that is not surprising with climate change
Their imposing hairy black hats, the famous bearskins, measure on average 46 centimeters and weigh more than half a kilogram. These headgear, which were originally intended to allow British soldiers to appear more frightening against French soldiers, especially during the Battle of Waterloo, have always been a bit cumbersome.
These furry hats have caused controversy recently because they are still made with real fur. Count one Canadian brown bear per hat, so much so that animal rights group Peta recently filed a complaint against the British Ministry of Defence, and wrote a letter to King Charles asking him to give up the famous furry hats, in the name of its stated commitment to the planet.
But obviously the British Ministry of Defense has not yet planned to abandon its bearskin either to respond to anti-fur activists or to adapt to climate change. Too bad if, faced with the rising thermometer, even the most trained soldiers in the world can no longer remain unmoved, collapsing to the ground while their comrades continue to play. After all, the parade must go on.