This Tower of London guard wears a historic uniform rather than a modern one. His primary job today is one of crowd control. He holds back the long queue of tourists seeking entry to the Tower grounds and lets visitors pass a few at a time. In the past the Beefeater guards (from the French word buffetier used to describe guards at the French palace of the king) protected the Tower and its prison. The initials ER on the Beefeater’s uniform stand for Elizabetha Regina (Regina is Latin for queen). The initials refer to Elizabeth the Second, who is the present Queen.