Guardsman who filmed himself ‘taking the p***’ while protecting Queen wants to abolish the monarchy

A young Scots Guardsman who published a video of himself ‘taking the p***’ at Windsor Castle while protecting the Queen has suggested he wants to see the abolition of the monarchy. 

Jimmie Straughan, 23, claimed to the MailOnline today that he and his colleagues were ‘treated like s**t by both their superiors and even members of the Royal Family.’ 

He accused the Army of ‘selling a dream of travelling the world’, which he claimed turned out to be ‘just hell’ when they were put on ceremonial duties. 

Asked if he would like to abolish the monarchy, he said: ‘In some ways, yes, but the Royal Family and the Household Division do bring in a hell of a lot of revenue for the country from tourists.’ 

Jimmie’s TikTok video, filmed in March 2020 but posted yesterday, outraged top brass and his father’s girlfriend after he was seen gyrating against his rifle and showing a clip of the late monarch walking her corgis.

Jimmie Straughan’s video was filmed in March 2020. But he was kicked out of the Army two years later for failing a drugs test

Jimmie claimed the Queen was in the background walking her beloved corgis during this part of his video. And and even said the late monarch had complained about his antics while on guard before he was kicked out of the Army 

And he claimed the Queen was so annoyed by his antics in the Windsor Castle sentry box that she complained, earning him a stern dressing-down.

In the clip the bear-skinned 23-year-old, then part of F Company of the elite Household Division, said: ‘I’m meant to be looking after the Royal Family. Currently staring at two ducks. Do I care? No.’

Jimmie, from Berwick-upon-Tweed, today spoke exclusively to MailOnline from Western Australia, where he has been travelling after being dishonourably discharged from the Army last year for failing a drugs test.

He was unrepentant about the video, saying ‘it was just a bit of fun to relieve the boredom’, but admitted the late Queen had complained about him to his superiors after watching him ‘larking around.’

‘I never got caught taking the video of the Queen walking her dogs with a footman, but she phoned up the guardroom and reported me for misbehaving on post,’ he said.

‘I got a b********g, but nothing more than that. If they’d seen the video, I’d have been out on my ear.’

He said he was eventually dismissed in March 2022 after failing a drugs test. He claimed the use of cocaine was ‘rampant’ in the Household Division, due to soldiers’ boredom performing ceremonial duties and said he was glad to leave.

Jimmie, 23, shares pictures of himself partying on social media. He was kicked out the army last year for taking cocaine 

The former Guardsman also shares photos of himself in the iconic red uniform and black bearskin hat of the Scots Guards

He would tag ‘Buckingham Palace’ in some of his social media posts while in the military 

Jimmie posted a video ‘taking the p**s’ while protecting the Royal Family at Windsor Castle in 2020

‘Being kicked out was the best thing that ever happened to me,’ he said. ‘When you join the Army, you’re sold a dream of travelling the world and going to exciting places, but when we were on ceremonial duties, it was just hell.

‘I hated it when we had to stand in front of the gawping tourists,’ he recalled. ‘I remember thinking to myself – am I a proper soldier or just a nutcracker?

‘We had to work one week on, one week off, but couldn’t leave camp at Wellington Barracks during the off weeks as we were doing other stuff like physical training.

‘We were barely earning the minimum wage, but living in central London, so even when you did get leave, you hardly had any money to spend.’

He said the soldiers of his unit, which he joined in September 2019, were still good friends, but they were ‘treated like s**t by both their superiors and even members of the Royal Family.’

He added: ‘One of the members of my regiment was sent to military prison in Colchester for two weeks for looking at his watch during a parade.

The former soldier he is happy to be out of the Army and is now travelling in Australia, sharing pictures of his journey on social media

The 23-year-old former soldier enjoyed sharing snaps of himself partying while in the military. This photo is from May 2021

Jimmie joined the Army as a Guardsman in September 2019 and has posted photos of his training on Instagram, including him field-stripping weapons and marching on parade 

‘Once we were put on punishment duty and made to crawl up the stairs on all fours. That was because a royal, I don’t know which one, complained that one soldier’s arm wasn’t at exactly 90 degrees when he was marching.

‘We were the lowest of the low. I wasn’t a royalist when I went into the Guards, but I certainly didn’t come out as one. In my three years in the Army I only met two or three people I would describe as royalists.’

Jimmie said that when he was first recruited to the Army he planned to join the mechanised infantry of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, but was lured to the Scots Guards instead.

‘No one mentioned the ceremonial duties to me at all, so it was a big shock when we were posted to Buckingham Palace soon after I’d trained.

‘They told me it would be for about three months but in fact it was 18 months.

The clip outraged Admiral Lord Alan West, the former head of the Royal Navy, who said the former guardsman now deserves ‘whatever punishment is thrown at him’.

Lord Alan West, the former head of the Royal Navy, said the former soldier’s actions had brought the military into disrepute

Jimmie, pictured partying in Australia, has been branded a ‘bloody idiot’ by former First Sea Lord Admiral Lord West

‘He is a stupid idiot,’ raged the former security minister. ‘You always get people who are bloody stupid, and clearly he was bored. But this is so stupid. He has brought the Army and military into disrepute.’   

Meanwhile, back home in Berwick, his father’s girlfriend Rebecca Menzies admitted the video was ‘disrespectful’, but also came to his defence.

She told MailOnline: ‘Jimmie left the Army and is currently travelling the world, he’s in Australia and his next stop is Bali.

‘It looks as though he’s had a drink with some friends and decided to post the video which was shot while he was on duty at Windsor.

‘I’ve read a lot of the comments people have made about him on social media and it’s over the top.

‘It was a bit disrespectful but he’s a good guy, a nice young lad and he’s not the devil as some people seem to be making out.’

She added: ‘When he left the Army his dad was disappointed but Jimmie said it just wasn’t for him, he’s an active lad and likes to be busy, so being on guard duty wasn’t what he wanted, as the video showed.

‘We don’t know what he’ll do next after travelling but he’s only 23 and has his life ahead of him.’

Jimmie said he ‘hated it when we had to stand in front of the gawping tourists’ while on duty as a guardsman

Jimmie was part of F Company of the Scots Guards during his posting at Windsor Castle when he filmed his antics 

His fisherman father Jason, 51, added: ‘This happened over a year ago and Jimmie has since left the Army.

‘He didn’t and would not have posted a video like that if he was still a serving soldier.’

The elite Scots Guards Regiment is one of the five infantry or foot guards regiments which makes up the Household Division, along with cavalry.

Jimmie joined the Army as a guardsman in September 2019 and has posted photos of his training on Instagram, including him lying prone on a firing range and in fatigues stripping down weapons.

He also tagged photos on his Instagram on duty at Buckingham Palace and the Tower of London, and shown himself and colleagues away on an exercise in Belize, central America, in 2021.

The Guards regiments are highly trained combat units which are called upon to carry out operational duties all over the world, but they also train for public duties and frequently take part in state and royal ceremonial events, such as the Changing of the Guard.

Wearing their distinctive bearskin hats, they also serve as sentries at Royal Palaces such as Buckingham Palace, St James’s Palace and Windsor Castle.

An Army spokesman said: ‘We are aware of an old video being circulated on social media.

‘Soldiers will be held to account where their social media usage contravenes our values and standards, or they bring the Army into disrepute. This applies to all members of the Army, whether on duty, off duty or on leave and may result in administrative or disciplinary action.’

Although posted after being sacked, Jimmie’s video has sparked calls for the Ministry of Defence to tighten up its social media training for all young troops joining the forces. 

SAS veteran Phil Campion branded the guardsman’s video a ‘silly mistake’ and called on better social media training for young troops joining the military 

 In the video, the former soldier says: ‘I’m meant to be looking after the Royal Family. Currently staring at two ducks. Do I care? No’

Special forces veteran Phil Campion, who served with Britain’s elite SAS, said the soldier’s video was a ‘silly mistake’ and has called on top brass to improve social media training for young troops joining the services.

He said: ‘This is a young lad doing something stupid and trying to be a bit edgy, making a name for themselves… But it’s not funny because of where he is and the gravity of the job he has protecting the Royal Family.’

Speaking to MailOnline earlier today, the former staff sergeant added: ‘I have a rule to myself because I have fallen foul on social media before – if you have to think about it more than once I don’t post it. 

‘With them being the TikTok generations, maybe in their basic training there should be 45 minutes spent [learning about social media]. People need to understand once you join the Army or the military, things change. There needs to be better education.’

Lord West warned more video leaks from ill-disciplined troops guarding the Royal Family could create a potential security risk.

‘We still get remarkably good young servicemen and women… [but] there’s no doubt that this generation, who have been brought up with social don’t seem to realise the dangers of it,’ he added. ‘They don’t realise what the impact is when they stupidly post something. It’s there for ever.’