Exclusive photographs of the conditions in the barracks where the royal guards live were shared by the British tabloid Daily Mail and some of the soldiers told the details of life.
Rare footage of the life which the royal guards have to live shocked the British segment of the network.
“The barracks depicted in the photographs is considered one of the most prestigious in the British army,” the newspaper writes.
The source adds that the royal guards stand guard in full dress at the entrance to Buckingham Palace – they are photographed annually by millions of tourists from around the world. But all this is just external tinsel, complements the tabloid, because it is far from their everyday living conditions, which some soldiers described as “vile” and “worse than in prison.”
One of the former guards, who did not want to give his name, told the tabloid his story.
“This is the disgusting treatment of soldiers doing a very important job. Prisoners in Britain have better living conditions than we do.
The Wellington Barracks are completely dirty, but they look great from the outside. Tourists are standing at the gate, taking pictures, but they don’t know what life the soldiers have inside,” the guard shared.
The man added that he had recently resigned from the royal guard due to unbearable living conditions.
“The rats were dying right in the garbage cans, and we had to clean them out in the morning,” the anonymous source added in an interview with reporters.
The photographs also show the elevator in a completely unsanitary condition. The guards emphasize that all these problems are present only in those blocks where ordinary people live.
“I can promise you that this doesn’t happen in the officer corps. I couldn’t take it anymore, it was worse than living in a dirty hole. I put up with it for several years, but nothing has changed.
The British public needs to know how soldiers are treated in this country,” the irate former royal guard concluded in a confidential conversation with reporters.
Conditions at Wellington Barracks were particularly resented by British citizens due to their pivotal role. Another former guardsman told the media that during his service he received a salary of 22 thousand pounds a year and now, working in the security sector, he earns twice as much.
According to the stories of soldiers who have retired from service, 32 privates live on each floor of the barracks, they have to share six toilets and two bathrooms among themselves.
“What civilians see when we are on duty and what our reality is are two big differences. There are people in the country who have not made a positive contribution to its development but live better than us. We are just at the bottom of the food chain, and we are being treated like garbage,” the former royal guard added angrily.
The Wellington Barracks at Westminster Abbey was designed in the 1830s and can house about 500 soldiers from five regiments.
Who knows, maybe it is because of living in such terrible conditions that the royal guards are constantly in a bad mood. We recently wrote about a royal guard who yelled at a tourist who wanted to take a picture with him.