What Happened When an Armed Intruder Tried Breaking Into Kensington Palace While Princess Diana, William, and Harry Were Asleep?
Members of the royal family are well protected and the palaces they live in have tons of security, which is why the stories about break-ins at their residences seem almost unreal. But intruders have gotten onto the grounds and into their homes.
Here’s what happened when an intruder tried to get inside Kensington Palace while Princess Diana, Prince Charles, and their sons, Prince William and Prince Harry slept.
Diana, Charles and their sons were sleeping when an attack took place
According to The Express, in 1987, a masked man perpetrator got within yards of the Kensington Palace apartment where the Prince and Princess of Wales and their boys were sound asleep.
The 27-year-old intruder attacked two guards with a knife and hammer when they approached him. The perp was ultimately taken down before he could gain access to the palace and the officers suffered minor injuries.
“A violent struggle took place in which both officers were hit on the head with a hammer,” Scotland Yard said in a statement.
The man was taken into custody and charged with being equipped for theft and causing bodily harm to royal protection officers. His lawyer claimed that his client did not intend to harm the prince, princess, or the children but was only there to protest the unemployment rate in the U.K.
An intruder broke into Queen Elizabeth’s bedroom
That scary incident wasn’t the first time an intruder got too close to a royal family member as they slept.
The Mirror noted that on July 9, 1982, a man named Michael Fagan broke into Buckingham Palace and got into Queen Elizabeth II’s bedroom. Fagan is believed to have scaled 14-foot barbed-wire-topped walls, then climbed a drainpipe to the roof, and entered the palace through an open window before finding his way to where the royal family matriarch was sleeping.
Fagan broke a glass ashtray before he reached the queen’s bedroom. He later claimed that he was going to slash his wrists with the broken glass in front of the monarch. When he actually got into her room he opened the curtains which startled her awake and she pressed the alarm.
The queen’s footman, Paul Whybrew, was returning from walking the dogs and came to his boss’ aide. After his arrest, Fagan was sent to a psychiatric facility where he spent six months.
Another intruder scaled the gate while the queen slept
This type of security breach happened yet again 37 years after the first one. .
The Sun reported that a 22-year-old man got onto the grounds of Buckingham Palace after scaling a fence around 2 a.m. on July 10, 2019. Queen Elizabeth was home at the time which is something the perpetrator knew because the royal standard flag was flying.
“There was an intruder at the palace while the queen lay sleeping in her bedroom and he was on the loose before the cops arrested him,” a royal source told the publication. “He was determined to get inside the palace and was banging down the doors but, thank goodness, everything was locked up.”
The man roamed around outside the doors for several minutes before he was detained by the police.
