A 19-year-old trespasser with an “offensive weapon” was arrested outside Windsor Castle Saturday morning as Queen Elizabeth and other members of the royal family celebrated Christmas inside, police officials reported.
The unidentified man from Southampton was quickly taken into custody. Thames Valley and Metropolitan Police officers responded within minutes after he was spotted, and he did not enter any buildings on the grounds of the queen’s main residence, according to officials.
“The man has been arrested on suspicion of breach or trespass of a protected site, and possession of an offensive weapon. He remains in custody at this time,” Thames Valley Police Superintendent Rebecca Mears said in a statement Saturday. “Members of the royal family have been informed about the incident.”
No details were provided about the weapon.
Mears said officials do not believe there is a “wider danger to the public.”
An investigation is continuing.
The queen had canceled the family’s traditional Christmas gathering at Sandringham House in Norfolk because of concerns about the omicron variant of COVID-19. Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, joined the queen instead at Windsor Castle.
Prince William, Kate Middleton and their three children — Prince George, 8, Princess Charlotte, 6, and Prince Louis, 3 — reportedly celebrated the holiday at their country home, Anmer Hall, on the queen’s Sandringham Estate.
It was the queen’s first Christmas since the death of her husband, Prince Philip, who passed away in April at the age of 99.
The couple celebrated Christmas last year at Windsor because of concerns about COVID.