Tourist attractions in London lost the significant portion of the visitors. For many people it means the shrinking salaries. The most iconic honorary guard is among them. For the first time in more than 500 years, a layoff is imminent at the ceremonial guard of the Tower of London.

The ‘beefeaters’, who have guarded the site of the British crown jewels since 1485, have never had redundancies before, but this is threatened by COVID.

Two guards have already left voluntarily, but that does not seem enough. The Tower normally attracts up to 15,000 visitors a day, that is now only 800. The guards’ income depends on tourism. To survive the corona crisis, they have already handed in a fifth of their income.