Honour guard collapses beside Macron during Élysée welcome for Slovak president

Collapse in the courtyard

On Wednesday, 11 November, Emmanuel Macron received Slovak President Peter Pellegrini at the Élysée Palace in Paris on an official visit. As the Slovak leader's car stopped in the courtyard, a member of the honour guard began to show signs of illness, then let go of his sword and fell backwards against one of the palace posts, a few steps from Macron. Reuters video, as described by BFMTV, shows about half a dozen people reaching the man, who appeared unconscious, and carrying him away quickly. Macron, alerted by the sound of the fall, turned toward him and walked over, then stepped aside to make room for those helping. Pellegrini, who had got out of his car during the commotion, stood at the foot of the stairs and watched.

A second guard falls

Accounts differ on how many guards collapsed. BFMTV and Adevărul both report a second collapse just outside the camera frame, identified by the sound of a sword hitting the ground, and say that guard was evacuated inside the palace. Rai, iefimerida and NewsIT describe only the one collapse. Mediafax reports that the man who fell first was taken to another part of the palace to receive medical help.

Cause and condition unknown

No report establishes the health condition of either guard or the cause of the collapse. Adevărul, citing Le Parisien, says the condition of both men was not known when that outlet published, and iefimerida says the cause had not been clarified. Social media users who shared the footage linked the fall to the long periods of stillness that honour guards hold during official ceremonies. These are online comments rather than findings, and none of the articles confirms them as the cause.

The visit continues

Once the first guard had been carried away, Macron greeted Pellegrini, and the two leaders went inside the palace. Mediafax reports that the two heads of state embraced, exchanged a few words and waited on the steps while the guard was taken into the building. Rai reports that the official programme resumed after the rescue, and Adevărul describes the incident as taking place during Pellegrini's official visit to France.