Moment Queen's Guard pulled bayonet on would-be intruder who ranted at police before marching towards Buckingham Palace gates

Man was seen by passers-by shouting repeatedly at officers on Friday



As encounter escalated an armed guard rushed from his post to intervene

He levelled his bayonet at the man's neck as they exchanged words

Would-be intruder was ushered away by police and was not arrested



This is the tense moment an armed Queen's Guard raised his rifle at a ranting would-be intruder outside Buckingham Palace.

The man had been shouting at royal protection officers for five minutes at the royal residence's north centre gate when the armed soldier intervened.

Witnesses told how the he strode 50 yards from his post to join the confrontation with the intruder, who has since claimed he was expecting a 'private audience' with the Queen.



Tense encounter: A member of the Queen's Guard can be seen levelling his rifle, tipped with a bayonet, at the throat of a man in front of the gates of Buckingham Palace

The man, who has identified himself as Tosin Odunaiya, a 23-year-old Nigerian who came to Britain illegally, said he 'presumed' that the Royal Family would welcome him into the palace.

But he was stopped at the gate before the guardsman's dramatic intervention, which caused his temper to flare.

Speaking to The Sun, he said: 'I wanted to speak with the Queen and presumed the Royal Family would have welcomed me as their lost son.

Incident: The dispute took place at the north centre gate of Buckingham Palace, to the side of the main central gate

Scene: The confrontation took place at Buckingham Palace on Friday (file photo)

Odunaiya, who claims the soldier, a member of the Coldstream Guards, 'didn't scare me' said: 'I was shouting louder and louder when the Guard came over and started shaking his gun at me.'



Passers-by reported how the would-be intruder said 'Oh you're a big boy now' to the soldier - thought to be Scottish - who in turn replied 'Yes I am a big boy' before pushing him.

Royal protection officers then ushered the man away, though he was not arrested.



He told the newspaper that the incident on Friday was his fifth attempt to get into the palace, and that before he has been so sure of being allowed in that he brought a toothbrush with him.

Odunaiya claims that his past visits were made to lobby the Queen over Syria, but that now he just wants help going home to Nigeria - as he hates it in Britain.

WHO ARE THE QUEEN'S GUARD?

Clad in their distinctive red tunics and bearskins hats, the soldiers of the Queen’s Guard are charged with protecting official Royal residences. The units, manned by fully-trained, serving soldiers, have more than 350 years of history and have defended monarchs since Charles II took the throne after the English Restoration in 1660. There are thought to be guidelines in place for guardsmen to deal with nuisances, which begins with stamping their feet and shouting. Raising a rifle is considered a 'final warning', after which the guardsmen is allowed to detain the person in question.



It is unusual for soldiers to leave their post unless a Royal is under threat, as the Metropolitan Police are responsible for most issues related to guarding the palace.

But it is believed that the soldier who intervened has the backing of his superiors.

The Metropolitan police said that they gave the man 'words of advice'.

A spokesman said: 'An incident occurred at the north centre gate of Buckingham Palace at approximately 17.50hrs on Friday 4th April.

'Officers from Royalty protection spoke to a male and he was given words of advice. There were no arrests.'

Scotland Yard refused to elaborate on why the man was not arrested.



A statement from the Army said: 'We are aware of an incident outside Buckingham Palace on Friday and while no one came to any harm and there were no arrests, we are very clear that the Metropolitan Police lead on Royal Security arrangements including outside the Palace itself.'

Panics at the Palace: How intruder after intruder has scaled fences, stalked the gardens, been Tasered to the floor... and even made it to the Queen's bedroom



The armed confrontation is the latest security scare to strike the palace, after a man was arrested in the grounds last year, and another was shot with a Taser after holding a knife to his own neck and shouting at passers-by.

Victor Miller, a 37-year-old DJ, was arrested last September in the palace grounds and was later charged with trespass.

He scaled a 12ft fence to breach palace security, before being tracked down and taken into custody at a location 'open to the public during the day'.



The intruder is said to have made his way to the State Rooms where all the Queen's priceless paintings by the likes of Leonardo da Vinci and Titian are kept.

Even more shockingly, in February of last year police officers had to subdue a man with a Taser after he brandished a knife outside the palace gates.

Talhat Rehman, 54, was filmed holding the blade to his own neck.

Dramatic: Police officers tasered Talhat Rehman to the ground outside the Palace last year

Scary: The dramatic incident saw the 54-year-old brandish two knives in front of hundreds of terrified tourists last February

The middle-aged man walked through crowds of tourists clutching two large kitchen knives before police surrounded him and used a Taser stun gun to disarm him.



As a policeman shouted a warning call of ‘Taser, Taser, Taser’ to his colleagues, the knifeman allegedly lunged forward, brandishing a six-inch blade in a series of swipes, before falling to the floor as he was stunned by the electrical charge.

A particularly embarrassing episode in 2004 saw a protester dressed as Batman sneak onto a ledge next to a balcony in the Palace after using a ladder to get over the walls.

On a ledge: Fathers4Justice campaigner Jason Hatch made it on to a prominent spot of Buckingham Palace in 2004

Lengthy: Spectators looked on for five hours before he could be moved away from the precarious spot by police

Jason Hatch, a member of the group Fathers4Justice, then unfurled a banner and spent five hours in full public view before he was arrested by police. The ease with which he had made it into the palace prompted an urgent review of Royal security.

Other breaches at the Palace include a 1994 incident when a naked America paraglider was able to land on the building's roof.

Michael Fagan made his way into the Queen's bedroom after breaching the palace in 1982

The next year a student rammed the gates at 50mph in his car, and a more subtle intrusion in 1995, while months later an undercover reporter was given a job as a Palace footman on the strength of a fake CV.



However, the most egregious breach of Royal security was surely the case of Michael Fagan in 1982.

Fagan, then 33, managed to scale the walls of the Palace on the morning of July 7, climb a drainpipe and wander the palace before making his way into the Queen's room.

He tripped several alarms, all of which were faulty, and was able to swig from a bottle of wine on his travels through the Royal residence. He was eventually apprehended by protection officers.

