On Christmas day, officers were notified of a security breach at Windsor Castle at 8.30 a.m. Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Charles and Camilla were reportedly the only residents at that time on Christmas.
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The armed intruder was a 19-year-old from Southampton. Even though he did not enter the palace premises, the surveillance at Windsor has now been tightened.
Masked intruder
The assassin was in possession of the crossbow, and he speaks to the camera in a garbled voice and yells ‘assassinate the Queen’ in a ‘revenge’ mission.
Due to the rising number of COVID cases in the UK, Her Majesty had a small-scale Christmas celebration, which too was disrupted due to the uninvited visitor.
Thames Valley Police Superintendent Rebecca Mears said in a statement that security protocols were initiated ‘within moments of the man entering the grounds.’ He remains in custody and the case is being investigated by Scotland Yard.
Mears adds:
The man has been arrested on suspicion of breach or trespass of a protected site and possession of an offensive weapon. We do not believe there is a wider danger to the public.
He has subsequently been sectioned under theMental Health Act and is under the supervision of medical personnel, according to police.
Other intruders
In the past, such security breaches have taken place every once in a while. The most awkward encounter will definitely be the one with comedian Aaron Barschak.
Barschak gatecrashed Prince William’s birthday party, by scaling an embankment to get into the castle, climbed two trees, clambered onto a wall, and dropped the other side. In spite of several alarms being put off, Barschak managed to kiss the Prince to declare ‘We all love you’ and walked out the door.
Security was then tightened and a new law to evade trespassing was enforced, under which the masked intruder was caught on Christmas.
