Police are searching for two men who allegedly broke into the grounds of Windsor Castle last month. The burglary took place on Oct. 13 while Prince William, Kate Middleton, and their three children – Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, 9, and Prince Louis, 6 – are believed to have been on the estate at their Adelaide Cottage residence, according to The Sun.
According to Thames Valley Police, who confirmed in a statement to NBC News Monday that it received a report of a burglary “at a property on Crown Estate land,” two men entered a farm building on the royal estate and made off with a black Izuzu pickup and a red quad bike. A source told The Sun that the suspects “must have been watching Windsor Castle for a while” before they allegedly climbed a six-foot fence late at night and struck at Shaw Farm, one of the working farms on the estate. The source claimed the suspects used a stolen vehicle to crash through a security gate amid their escape.
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“They would have to have known the vehicles were stored there before they broke in and known when was the best time to get and escape without being caught. So they must have been watching Windsor Castle for a while,” the source added. “There are alarms at Windsor Castle but the first time anyone knew there was a break-in was when they crashed through the security barrier at Shaw Farm Gate exit. The barrier has needed to be replaced as it was so badly damaged.”
Police said the burglary was reported at around 11:45 p.m. local time, but no arrests have been made at this time. The investigation is ongoing.
Windsor Castle is one of King Charles and Queen Camilla’s residences, though they reportedly were not at the residence at the time of the incident. William, Kate, and their children, however, are believed to have been at Adelaide Cottage, their four-bedroom Grade II listed house located on the grounds of Windsor Castle. The Sun’s source noted that the burglary took place on “a Sunday night on a school week so the young princes and princess would have been tucked in bed at Adelaide Cottage, just around the corner but still in the grounds.”
This is not the first security breach in Windsor. Back on Christmas Day 2021, a man was arrested after he climbed a fence with a crossbow. He claimed he wanted to kill Queen Elizabeth II, who was staying at the castle at the time. The man was convicted on charges of treason, possession of an offensive weapon, and making threats to kill, and sentenced to nine years in prison.
The most recent incident comes after armed police officers were removed from two main public entrances at Windsor Castle. Neither Kensington Palace nor Buckingham Palace have commented on the incident at this time.