Queen’s elite bodyguard is arrested ‘for having nine bags of cocaine and ketamine’

One of the Queen’s bodyguards was arrested on suspicion of drugs possession after white powder was found in a bathroom at St James’s Palace. 

The private was said to have nine bags of cocaine and ketamine among his possessions after police searched his room and car at Wellington Barracks by Buckingham Palace. 

The Coldstream Guardsman was arrested on Tuesday by the Royal Military Police and has been removed from ceremonial duties pending the outcome of the investigation. 

The private was said to have nine bags of cocaine and ketamine among his possessions after police searched his room and car at Wellington Barracks by Buckingham Palace

Officers launched an investigation after white powder was found in the guardroom toilets where the soldier had been on duty, reported The Sun. 

They then uncovered five bags of what was suspected to be cocaine and four of ketamine, a horse sedative that is also a Class A drug. 

An Army spokesman told MailOnline: ‘We can confirm that a soldier from the Coldstream Guards has been arrested for a suspected drug offence by the Royal Military Police. 

‘It would be inappropriate to comment further.’ 

The Coldstream Guards, nicknamed ‘Lilywhites,’ were formed in the English Civil War when Oliver Cromwell gave Colonel George Monck permission to have his own regiment.

After Cromwell’s death, Monck supported the monarchy and on January 1, 1660, crossed the River Tweed into England at the village of Coldstream and began a five-week march to London.

It is the oldest continuously-serving regiment in the British Army. 

Alongside serving as an elite infantry regiment is has a ceremonial role as protectors of the royal palaces, including Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace.

The Regimental Band of the Coldstream Guards is one of the oldest and best-known military marching bands in the world.