Photo of exhausted beefeaters taking break from guarding Queen's coffin goes viral

For the past six days, we've witnessed the Queen's coffin lying-in-state in Westminister Hall as the guards watched over her 24 hours a day.

The Yeomen Warders of Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress the Tower of London, nicknamed the 'beefeaters', rotated every 20 minutes to stand guard in six-hour shifts as thousands of people queued for hours to walk past the Queen's coffin to pay their respects.

(The brutal schedule even led one guard to faint at The Queen's coffin.)

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Now some behind-the-scenes photos have been released by the Ministry of Defence which showed the guards getting dressed in their uniforms.

While one photo captured some of the loyal (and exhausted) guards taking a break from duties at Westminster Hall on Sunday as they took their 20-minute break.

Four guards can be seen putting up their feet up, sitting on two sofas sporting t-shirts but still wearing their uniform red trousers - one guard even wore a pair of comfy crocs (and given how long the guards stay on their feet, who can blame him).

"The UK Armed Forces are continuing to honour their Commander-in-Chief of 70 years, Her Majesty The Queen, as they stand vigil alongside The King's Body Guard," the Ministry of Defence's official Twitter account tweeted which received 9,600 likes.

People praised the guard's work and loved seeing a behind-the-scenes glimpse of what the guards get up to on their breaks.

Elsewhere, as well as being impressed with the guards, people are impressed that 73-year-old King Charles was able to march the full procession.

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