A man was interned Sunday after trying the day before to enter, armed with a crossbow, in the territory of Windsor Castle, on the outskirts of London, where Elizabeth II was spending Christmas, police said.
The Thames Valley Police had announced that it intervened at around 8:30 a.m. local time following a security alert and arrested a 19-year-old man living in Southampton, in the south of England, armed.
“A crossbow was found during a search,” London police said in a statement on Sunday evening. The man was taken into custody and underwent a psychological examination. He has since been interned under the Mental Health Act and remains under the supervision of doctors ”.
The police had underlined as of Saturday evening that the security procedures had been “triggered a few moments after the entry of the man on the site” that he had “not entered any building”.
“Members of the royal family have been informed of the incident,” the police said.
Queen Elizabeth II, 95, is spending the end of the year in Windsor, now her main residence, after giving up her usual visit to Sandringham, in eastern England, in due to the resurgence of Covid-19 in the UK due to the Omicron variant.
The sovereign, on her first Christmas since the death of her husband Philip in April at the age of 99, was joined on Saturday by several family members including her sons Charles and Edward and the wives of the latter.
According to Daily Mirror, the suspect, with his crossbow, was spotted on surveillance cameras.
“The security agents could not believe their eyes,” said a security source to the tabloid, adding that an important security device had been deployed “to ensure the safety of the queen who was in her personal quarters” .
According to the newspaper, “a major reassessment of security procedures” is to be expected after the incident.
the Mail on Sunday claims that in addition to the crossbow, the suspect was equipped with a rope ladder used to cross metal barriers.
He clarified that while crossbows are considered lethal weapons in the UK, wearing them does not require any license or registration.
Attempts to break into Buckingham Palace are not exceptional.
The most spectacular dates back to 1982, when a thirty-something, Michael Fagan, managed to make his way to the bedroom of the queen, who was in bed.
On May 10, a man with mental health problems was seen scaling the grounds of the Royal Mews, the stables of the British Royal Family, then passing it back in the opposite direction towards the street shortly after. He had been quickly arrested with cocaine and a kitchen knife.
Elizabeth II was not there.
The Queen, who has spent most of the time in Windsor since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, has reduced the number of her commitments since a night of hospitalization in October for a reason never specified.
In a very personal Christmas greetings this year, recorded in Windsor and broadcast on Saturday, Elizabeth II paid tribute to the late Prince Philip, confident she missed him.