During the ceremonial welcome of Slovak President Peter Pellegrini at the Élysée Palace in Paris, an incident occurred in which two members of the French honour guard lost consciousness in very quick succession. There is currently no official information regarding their health condition or the exact reasons for the collapse.
The event took place on Wednesday, 11 November, while French President Emmanuel Macron was waiting in the palace courtyard for the arrival of the Slovak head of state. Footage from Slovak television channel TV JOJ shows one of the guards, dressed in ceremonial uniform and holding a sword, suddenly losing his balance, dropping the sword from his hand and falling onto his back.
Macron reacted immediately and, without hesitation, moved towards the guard, accompanied by several members of the Élysée Palace staff. First aid was administered, after which he was quickly removed from the ceremony site. The sound of the sword hitting the ground, as well as Macron’s startled reaction, can be clearly heard in the footage.
Just moments later, immediately after Macron had greeted the arriving President Pellegrini, a second member of the honour guard collapsed. This second fall was not captured on camera. According to the French newspaper Le Parisien, palace staff immediately removed the second soldier as well.
Despite these unexpected scenes, the official welcome and the planned meeting between the two presidents continued successfully. There are still no official statements on what caused the sudden collapse of the two guards.
