Prince stopped by royal guards

London – Britain’s Prince Andrew was challenged by jittery royal protection officers in the gardens of Buckingham Palace last week as they stepped up security following a break-in, police admitted yesterday. The Duke of York, the third child of Queen Elizabeth II, was approached by two armed officers as he took an evening stroll on Wednesday at the monarch’s official London residence, a spokesperson for Scotland Yard said.

However, the spokesperson denied a newspaper report that the officers had pointed guns at the 53-year-old duke and shouted at him to get down on the ground.

“On Wednesday, 4 September at approximately 18:00 two uniformed officers approached a man in the gardens of Buckingham Palace to verify his identity,” the spokesperson said.

“The man was satisfactorily identified. No weapons were drawn and no force was used.”
Buckingham Palace declined to comment on the incident. Two days earlier, a man was arrested inside the palace in a major security breach. He had scaled a fence to get into the building in central London.

He was arrested for burglary, trespass and criminal damage, while a second man was arrested outside the palace on suspicion of conspiracy to commit burglary. – AFP