Edward Almond three, loves dressing up as one of the Queen’s Grenadier Guards and marches around his home pretending he is one of them.
So on September 13, he donned the iconic red jacket and bearskin hat to send a salute to the late Queen as her coffin passed over his home in Bacup, Lancashire.
The Queen’s Grenadier Guards is one of the oldest regiments in the British Army, who are often standing guard outside Buckingham Palace.
Edward often dresses up in his mini Guard outfit, so this was a very fitting tribute.
He will dress up again to watch the funeral with his family on Monday.
He also saluted King Charles when he saw him on TV during news coverage of the Queen’s death.
His dad, Michael Almond, 30, says his son doesn’t fully comprehend what has happened because he is three, but Edward relates to it since his grandparents passed away.
MIchael said: ‘We say that the Queen is now in the sky as a star, so he now associates stars with the Queen.
‘Me and his mum were explaining that because the Queen has passed away, now the King is in charge so he was saluting him on the TV.’
Michael had been tracking the flight of the Queen’s coffin on his phone, until the website crashed. Luckily, the plane flew over their house.
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He said: ‘Because we were initially watching the coffin being loaded onto the aircraft, Edward wanted to get dressed up in his uniform.
‘He also wanted to march so we went on the back road near where we live, and thankfully, we could see it fly over.’
Edward has been obsessed with soldiers ever since his saw some marching while on a family holiday to Malta.
After that, he started saluting and marching every time he saw soldiers on the telly.
‘When the Sergeant Major shouts, he can’t necessarily understand what he is saying but Edward will interpret that and shout while he is marching,’ Michael explained.
Dreams are going to come true for the little chap, as the family are planning a trip to London so Edward can see the guards in real life.
Michael added: ‘Going is number one on our to-do list now.
‘Obviously given everything at the minute, it’s not appropriate to take him down… but it’s definitely happening either later this year or early next year.’
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