The king was surprised at this, and asked Count Struensee what was the meaning of these terrible preparations? He replied to the king that all this was done for the protection of his beloved person, as his subjects were aroused against his Majesty; hence it was feared lest the king might meet with the same fate as the unhappy Peter III. The king was terribly alarmed on hearing this; he clasped his hands, and exclaimed, "My God! what harm have I done that my dear and faithful subjects should hate me so?"[23] Unfortunately, these very precautions served as weapons for the favourite's enemies; and they did not fail to employ them. A report was already spread that it was his intention to dethrone the king, or get rid of him; that he would marry the queen, and be declared protector of the kingdom. The display of loaded guns was regarded as a threatening arrangement, intended to intimidate the people at the moment when the minister's projected revolution was about to break out. A report was spread that Struensee had proposed to disarm the bürger guard, and that the colonel commanding it had replied, that if his men were deprived of their muskets they would defend the king with paving stones. Lastly, the disposition to envenom everything was so great, that Struensee, having set up his own carriage at this time, this novelty was also misinterpreted. It was declared to be the state coach, in which he would figure on the day of the revolution.[24] In this earnest season, which afforded abundant scope for discouraging reflections, Struensee was, in some incomprehensible way, so busied with court festivities, that he began to neglect those duties connected with the government. Business of importance was left unsettled, and so rapidly accumulated, that the minister decided everything without consideration. It was evident that the blindness of this man, who trusted to his luck, was increasing. We have a confirmation of this in the enterprise which he finally ventured, and which deprived him of the last ray of his favour among the populace, as well as the good opinion of the better classes, and hence was precisely of a nature to hasten his downfall. A good deal of ill-blood had already been produced by the disbandment of the Horse Guards, and all the officers of the Guards being placed on a level with those of the army and navy. But now Struensee resolved to disband the battalion of Foot Guards, under the pretext that its existence had a deleterious effect on the rest of the army. Falckenskjold, at first, opposed this design, but at length gave way.