So I had to look this up, because I thought I would’ve known about a Georgian military goat tradition.
And these military goats are amazing.
So this is William Windsor I, right?
Old Billy here was at a military parade in Cyprus for the Queen’s birthday. Cos, you know, he was descended from a royal goat herd (which is wild in itself), and all the important people were there. Ambassadors, UN officials, senior-ranking members of the military, all the big cheeses.
So Billy is supposed to be on his best behaviour. Not a hoof out of line, doing all his best sheep impressions for the nice old lady (or not nice, but that’s a discussion for another day).
Except Billy, being a goat, wasn’t all that great at standing to attention and marching in time. To cut a long story short, he tried to headbutt an army drummer and was demoted from Lance Corporal to Fusilier.
Apparently, and this is a legitimate quote, he was “accused of disobeying a direct order”.
So you have a goat from Wales on a military base in Cyprus, taking part in a military parade for the birthday of a Queen who is hanging out in the UK.
Now that poor Billy has lost his rank, the other Fusiliers no longer have to stand to attention when he walks by. The shame!
Luckily the story has a happy ending. After a summer spent mulling over his bad behaviour (and apparently some pushing from a Canadian animal rights group, though I can’t find any more info on who they were), Billy was promoted back up to Lance Corporal, and eventually retired to Whipsnade Zoo back in 2009.
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