Blood-Covered Horses Spark Mayhem as Royal Army Exercise Goes Wrong

Five horses of the Household Cavalry—which counts Prince Harry as a former member—have thrown off their soldier riders and charged through central London.

The horses bolted during exercises on Horse Guards Parade, leaving at least one soldier wounded, before scattering far and wide through central London. They have since been recovered, the Army said.

A coffee shop worker in The Strand, in central London, was quoted in The Daily Telegraph saying: "I saw a white horse running, he was bleeding all over his chest. A few moments later I saw another horse—a black one—running after him. And then a police car went down the road after them."

The London Ambulance Service was called at 8.25 a.m. local time to attend to the injured soldiers on Buckingham Palace Road. Five people in total are believed to have been injured across three separate locations.

Pictures also circulated of a shattered front windscreen of a Big Bus Tours vehicle that collided with one of the horses.

"We confirm that one of our stationary buses sustained damage this morning during an incident involving horses from the Household Cavalry," the company said in a statement. "One of the horses ran into the front of our parked vehicle.

"Fortunately, none of our team members were injured. Our primary concern lies with the welfare of the riders and animals involved in the incident."

Meanwhile Bashir Aden, 48, told the Telegraph: "I saw a soldier falling down into the street after the horse ran into a car. One of my colleagues called the police.

"The man hit the floor hard, he was screaming in pain. You could see blood all over the parked car.

"The horses come down this route every day, but today the horse looked stressed or panicked. I saw the horse run away after it hit a bus. People were screaming and running all over."

An Army spokesperson said in a statement released to Newsweek: "A number of military working horses become loose during routine exercise this morning.

"All of the horses have now been recovered and returned to camp. A number of personnel and horses have been injured and are receiving the appropriate medical attention."

The Household Cavalry has a history dating back to 1660 serving as guards for the monarch of the day and its Mounted Regiment takes part in major royal events such as Trooping the Color, King Charles III's birthday parade that takes place in June.

Prince Harry rose to the rank of lieutenant in the Blues and Royals, one of two regiments in the Household Cavalry, before in 2009 retraining as an Apache co-pilot gunner in the Army Air Corps for his second tour of Afghanistan.

His time there clearly left an impression, however, as he married Meghan Markle in his Blues and Royals uniform.

A statement by the London Ambulance Service read: "We were called at 8:25 a.m. today to reports of a person being thrown from a horse on Buckingham Palace Road, SW1W.

"We sent resources to the scene including ambulance crews, a paramedic in a fast response car, and an incident response officer.

"Our first paramedic was on the scene in five minutes. The incident is still ongoing and we are working with our emergency services partners."

The Household Cavalry's website says it "is made up of the two most senior regiments in the British Army: The Life Guards and The Blues & Royals. It is divided into the Household Cavalry Regiment and the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment.

"Since 1660, the soldiers of Household Cavalry have acted as the monarch's trusted guardians, as well as being the public face of the British Army both at home and abroad."

Jack Royston is Newsweek's chief royal correspondent based in London. You can find him on X, formerly Twitter, at @jack_royston and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.

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