Knife-wielding man Tasered at Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace is charged

A man will appear in court today after he was Tasered outside Buckingham Palace when he held a knife to his neck.

Talhat Rehman, 54, of Lindsay Drive, Harrow, was seen ranting and shouting and pressed a second six-inch knife to his chest while holding a set of beads, before a policeman shot him with the Taser.

He will appear in custody at Westminster Magistrates Court charged with two counts of possessing a bladed weapon in public and one of affray, Scotland Yard said.

The drama unfolded yesterday as hundreds of tourists and Londoners gathered outside the palace for the midday changing of the guard.

He was quickly surrounded and the weapons kicked out of harm's way while officers checked him over.

The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh were at Sandringham at the time of the incident.

A scene was cordoned off with police tape 30 metres from the palace gates, and an ambulance was parked at the side of the building.

Inside the cordoned-off area lay the two knives, a pair of Nike high-top trainers, the man's hat and a black carrier bag containing paper and material. A handkerchief lay beside the bag.

The scene created confusion among those tourists who had not seen the incident.

After the man was taken into custody and the procession had finished, tourists arriving at the palace asked police if the items were part of an exhibition.

"It is not what you expect to see outside Buckingham Palace," one holidaymaker said.