UK’s Serjeant at Arms drops sword in full view of the parliament and, mate, we’ve all been there

There are very few of us who have to carry a sword for work.

But Kamal El-Hajji is one of those people.

El-Hajji is the British Parliament's Serjeant at Arms, meaning he’s in charge of keeping order within the Commons part of the parliamentary estate.

As part of his role, he carries the House of Commons mace – which looks like an incredibly extra, super chunky golden wand – when the Speaker enters the chamber before each sitting.

When he places this mace down, that signifies parliamentary sittings have begun, while taking it away ends the session.

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He’s also responsible for security during sittings and can be instructed by the Speaker to escort people out of the chambers.

It’s quite a traditional, ceremonial role which used to require him to wear a stately uniform, but now it seems he’s allowed to wear a “modern” suit with a tailcoat.

However, he still gets to carry a kickarse sword.

And he looks pretty darn cool with his swish suit and medieval style weapon, like he gets around on a white horse or something.

But the other day, El-Hajji had an awkward moment when his sword fell on the floor.

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The whole thing was caught on parliamentary cameras and quickly went viral.

PA journo Richard Wheeler posted video of the mishap on Twitter, which chalked up more than 440,000 views.

“That moment when you drop your sword...” he said.

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“Oh come on, who hasn’t, when going to collect their employers ceremonial mace, had a bit of an accident and dropped their sword? Don’t single out the serjeant,” Matt Stutely quipped.

“I can't tell you how often I've had that happen,” Martin R. Conterez chimed in.

So relatable.