Buckingham Palace – the official residence of Queen Elizabeth II – is a place many of us would know from TV.
This is thanks to high-profile British royalty events like Princess Diana’s funeral, and the royal weddings of Prince William, and Prince Harry.
On Wednesday (10 Jul), Buckingham Palace was in the headlines for a peculiar reason.
News reports have it that a 22-year-old man was arrested after climbing over the palace’s front gates at 2am.
He allegedly banged on doors as a break-in attempt, while the 93-year-old monarch was asleep in the residence at the time.
According to The Telegraph, the man was arrested shortly after he successfully crossed over the gates for trespassing.
The man is currently in custody at a police station in central London.
The Sun reported that the man spent around 4 minutes inside palace walls and banged on the doors, trying to break in.
Officers from the Met’s Royalty and Specialist Protection Command noticed the ruckus and caught the man.
A police spokesperson said they didn’t find any offensive weapons on him and the incident is not being treated as terror-related.
According to The Sun, Queen Elizabeth was sleeping in the place during the incident. A Palace source related that they’ve already informed her about this.
They reported that the queen was the only senior royal sleeping at the palace because of ongoing renovation. The source added,
We are all relieved that the doors were locked this time and he wasn’t able to get inside where the queen was.
The queen apparently continued with her duties as normal in the morning.
Too bad, we will never know what the queen thinks about the entire hooha.
Surprisingly, this is not the first time break-ins have happened at the palace. The British may remember Mr Michael Fagan’s infamous break-in in 1982.
He scaled the palace walls and wandered into Queen Elizabeth’s bedroom. You may not expect this, but she actually conversed with him while he sat on the end of her bed.
Sadly for the 22-year-old man who was just arrested, there’s no tea for him.
Other recent incidents involving breaking into Buckingham Palace include:
Buckingham Palace is famous for its infantry of palace guards wearing bearskin hats, so it’s truly shocking to see people bold enough to test their luck by trespassing.
There’s no need to do so if you wish to visit. Buckingham Palace tours are available, with tickets priced at 12 British Pounds (S$20).
We’re glad that Queen Elizabeth was safe and sound in her bedroom, and no one was hurt.
Featured image from Storyblocks.
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An unusual 'theft' indeed.