If you’ve spent any time on TikTok you’ll have seen all kinds of videos documenting TikTokers’ lives and their workplaces. Some are made to be informative and fun to watch and others are made by people who are just plain bored. Recently, you may well have seen a video by Jimmie Straughan, a young Scot from Perth, one of the said-bored people who decided he’d give us a glimpse into his job as a royal guard.
His video documents a snippet of his day and it doesn’t look very interesting. He turns his camera around and shows us his location “Currently staring at two ducks.” In the video he also jokingly gyrates his rifle and seems to record a member of the royal family, possibly the Queen, from afar. The video has gone viral over the past few days and currently has 400,000 views on TikTok, you can see it for yourself on Jimmie’s TikTok @jimmiestraughan. Jimmie claims his video was made to show the reality of being in the Queen’s guard. He also notes how the members of the royal guard are mistreated and paid less than minimum wage.
The video has caused quite a bit of controversy due to his position being seemingly such an important one. Back in April 2022 Jimmie was dismissed from the army. Many on TikTok have speculated that Jimmie was dismissed because of the video which he made two years prior. After all, it’s definitely a huge security breach for, arguably, one of the most important families in the UK. Having his phone out on duty is enough to get him dismissed according to the man himself. That’s before you take into consideration his behavior in the video which some have branded as disgraceful. One commenter even asked if this was treason, to which Jimmie replied “I hope so.”
His video was originally made back in 2020, however, it wasn’t posted until a few days ago. This was long after his dismissal, allegedly the reason was drug use. According to an article in the Telegraph, there was no disciplinary action taken against the Scot as he is a civilian now and has been for over half a year.
So where is Jimmie now?
Since his dismissal he’s been backpacking around the globe, currently he’s in Australia. It looks like he won’t be back in the UK anytime soon, but considering the outcry he’s caused among royalists perhaps he’s better off on the other side of the world for now.
Published: Jan 4, 2023 02:03 pm