Man held after prowling Palace grounds for seven minutes
AN INTRUDER spent seven minutes prowling the grounds of Buckingham Palace before being captured by police, it was revealed yesterday.
The Queen and Prince Philip were inside when the 41-year- old man tripped an alarm as he scaled a perimeter wall shortly before 9pm on Wednesday. Armed officers pounced and arrested the trespasser before he was able to reach the palace.
No weapons were found on the man, but last night he was still in custody. It came hours after the Queen had attended the State Opening of Parliament.
Experts have called for additional patrols and higher perimeter walls after a number of fanatics, campaigners and even suspected burglars have entered the grounds – but the Queen is thought to be against the idea.
Ken Wharfe, former protection officer to Princess Diana and princes William and Harry, said: ‘It took seven minutes to find this guy, which is a hell of a long time.
‘In ten seconds you could run 50 yards, at the bottom end of the palace that would take you into the front door of where the Queen lives, that’s how accessible the palace is.
‘The problem is the Queen will not want any further uniformed static responses outside in the grounds of her palace – that’s the end of it, it won’t happen. There have been suggestions of increasing the height of the wall and so forth … The royals won’t put up with it. The Queen is quite adamant she doesn’t want any additional people patrolling.
‘Once somebody is over that wall, unless you catch them immediately there’s no telling where that person might go. This is a massive area and the whole grounds are covered with plants and herbaceous borders, it’s not an easy task.
‘Once you get inside the palace this is a labyrinth of walkways and passages and it’s impossible.’
Mr Wharfe said security should be tighter given the terror threat Britain faces. He said: ‘The country is at a very high stage of alert. An attack on the palace by one of the terrorist groups will engender tremendous publicity so you cannot rule it out.’
Former royal protection officer Dai Davies said it was difficult to mount more patrols of the palace as resources were already stretched. He said: ‘There is a long history of people trying to get in, but most of the time we don’t get to hear about it.
‘There is a balance to be struck between the threat and the resources available. It’s hugely difficult to spread the limited resources we have between Kensington, St James, Windsor, etc.’
Commander Adrian Usher, head of the Met’s Royalty and Specialist Protection Unit, insisted security measures had ‘worked effectively’.
Last November fathers’ rights campaigners used a ladder to climb on the roof of the Queen’s Gallery, and in September 2013 a trespasser climbed over the palace wall and made it into one of the state rooms.
Less than 48 hours later, amid heightened security, two police officers confronted the Duke of York in the palace gardens demanding to know who he was.
The most high-profile breach was in 1982 when Michael Fagan broke into the Queen’s bedroom, talking to her for about ten minutes. He too had climbed over the palace walls.
Yesterday Buckingham Palace said security was a matter for the Met.
‘No telling where they might go’