He's caught off his guard at Buckingham Palace

Tens of thousands of visitors flock to see them every year, attracted by their impressive uniform and proud military bearing. But for the soldiers of the Household Division, guarding the Queen at Buckingham Palace is far from being a glamorous assignment. In fact it can be mindnumbingly dull.

So much so that this guard seemed to stay awake only by employing an impressive selection of yawns, twitches and other manoeuvres of a facial rather than military nature.

The problem of the repetitive nature of a guardsman's duties has reached crisis point, with a sharp increase in the number of soldiers applying to quit regiments early.

In a letter to his superior, Major-General Sebastian Roberts, the General Officer Commanding London District, issued a stark warning.

He told the Army's Director of Infantry, Brigadier Jamie Balfour: "It must be recognised that military task 2.5 (guarding the royal palaces) is a debilitating routine task.

"The challenge... for recruiting, retention and maintaining operational capability is enormous. The task constitutes unique and real pain."

The 2,000 troops from the Household Division spend several hours a day polishing their kit. Then there is the guard duty. Each soldier can expect to carry out up to three two-The only movements allowed to prevent stiffness setting in are changing arms - moving the rifle from one shoulder to the other - and a short patrol of the parade ground.

One officer said: "It requires a very high level of personal discipline, but that's about it. It requires no intelligence, zeal, athleticism or initiative."