Now that King Charles
III has become the nation’s new monarch, he’s inherited a security
team from the Queen to join him at royal engagements, and there’s one
bodyguard in particular who’s got everybody talking.
Who
is King Charles’ bodyguard?
Major Jonathan Thompson –
known as ‘Johnny’ by his friends – currently serves with the 5th Battalion
Royal Regiment of Scotland, and he’s been working with the Royal Family for
years.
Major Jonathan was previously the Queen’s
most senior bodyguard
Pictured alongside the new
King, all week royal watchers have been asking questions about Charles’s
bodyguard and Royal Equerry, who previously served as Queen Elizabeth II’s most
senior bodyguard.
Dubbed ‘Major eye candy’ by
royal fans, Major Jonathan has become something of a social media sensation
over the last few weeks, with many commenting on his good looks and traditional
uniform.
Major Jonathan Thompson was
pictured escorting Liz Truss to a meeting with King Charles
In recent pictures, the
39-year-old was spotted escorting Prime Minister Liz Truss to meet the King at
Buckingham Palace on Friday 9 September. He was also among the procession of
Her Majesty’s coffin from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall.
According to his LinkedIn
profile, he has served in the British Army since 2006, prior to graduating from
Aberystwyth University where he studied Economics, International Politics and
Intelligence Studies.
Did
Prince Charles’ bodyguard attend University with him?
 |
While at university Charles was protected by an agent who sat in every one of his seminars and lectures
While Major Jonathan Thompson
is King Charles III’s current bodyguard, prior to his accession to the throne,
he was protected by another agent – and there is a popular story that the
royal’s bodyguard was allowed to take the same exams as Charles after having
sat in every one of his seminars and lectures.
According to the
website Quora, the story has been passed “down the generations”
at the University, but just how accurate is the urban legend?
 |
The royal famously attended Trinity College at Cambridge University
The security guard reportedly
lived in college accommodation at Trinity College, and since the criteria of
gaining a degree from a University includes ‘keeping term’ in the limits of
Cambridge during term dates and passing the examinations, the bodyguard was
eligible to take the exams as he met the criteria. As such, the story goes that
he was permitted to sit the exam and passed with a 2:1, while Charles was
awarded a more modest 2:2.
However, the University of
Cambridge’s online magazine, Varsity, has debunked the myth, claiming that
although Charles did have a bodyguard who stayed in a room at Trinity College
and attended the same lectures as the Prince, he did not in fact take the
exams.
