- A royal guard broke protocol to take a photo with a teen with Down Syndrome at Buckingham Palace.
- The moment was captured on video, showing how the guard moved to accommodate the photo opp.
Royal guards are universally known for their ability to stand still.
That said, a recent viral interaction shows a royal guard seemingly breaking protocol to inch closer toward a young man with Down Syndrome for a photograph at Buckingham Palace.
In the video, shared by The Royal King's Guards England YouTube account, the royal guard stepped to his left to accommodate a photo opportunity with the teenager, who held his thumbs up for the camera.
Originally shared on June 8, the clip has over 293,000 views as of Friday.
Toward the end of the interaction, the teenager is told by his adult companion to say "Thank you," and is reminded that the royal guard is unable to speak with them while on he's on the job.
The young man who caught the royal guard's attention is 17-year-old Ibrahim, who was accompanied on his Buckingham Palace outing by cyclist Mike van Erp. Van Erp is known in London for documenting his interactions with drivers in the city on his YouTube page CyclingMikey.
Besides catching "bad drivers" and reporting them to the Metropolitan Police, Van Erp told Insider that he also works as a "factotum," an employee who does all kinds of work, for Ibrahim's family and has known the young man for a decade.
They spend a lot of time together doing activities such as kayaking, cycling, ice skating, and swimming, he added.
"He's pretty important to me, as much as my own two sons are," Van Erp said.
In the lead-up to their photograph with the royal guard, Van Erp said that Ibrahim was "nervous" because of the soldier's "emphatic body language" and how careful they were trying to be to respect his space.
Van Erp said his own schooling taught him the "necessary manners and understanding to respect the guard appropriately," but he was nonetheless amazed to see the man seemingly break protocol.
"I had a tear in my eye for several evenings as I realized how massive the guard's gesture to us was," he said.
As for Ibrahim, Van Erp said the teenager enjoyed visiting the royal guards at Buckingham Palace and "seems pleased" with all the reactions to the moment so far.
"Ibrahim is accepting all the attention as though it was his royal due," Van Erp joked.
Representatives for the Royal Guards at Buckingham Palace did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.