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Buckingham Palace intruder breaks in while the Queen sleeps – get the details

This is scary

queen pink close up
Diane Shipley
Senior Online Writer
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A man breached Buckingham Palace security in the early hours of Wednesday morning while the queen slept inside. At 2am, the intruder managed to scale a fence outside the Queen's London residence and then bang on several doors, trying to be let in. Luckily, police who are part of the monarch's main security detail were able to apprehend him before he got any further, and none of the royal family is believed to have been in any danger.

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Queen Buckingham Palace© Photo: PA

The Queen held a reception for faith groups at the palace last month

A statement from the Metropolitan Police confirmed the incident, saying that a 22-year old man had been apprehended by officers from the Met's Royalty and Specialist Protection Command. It went on, "The man was not found in possession of any offensive weapons and the incident is not being treated as terrorist-related. He remains in custody at a central London police station."

Queen pink smiling© Photo: PA

The Queen was asleep in her room at the palace during the incident

This isn't the first time a member of the public has got too close to the Queen for comfort. Terrifyingly, a 33-year-old decorator called Michael Fagan entered her bedroom in July 1982 at 7.15 am. He said he had been there a month before, at which time he had a good look around the palace before stealing a snack of cheese and crackers. The Queen's aide Paul Whybrew was able to guide him into police custody.

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The Royal family have been in several potentially life-threatening situations in the past, including an assassination attempt on the Queen as part of 1981 Trooping the Colour ceremony. The shots Marcus Sarjeant fired turned out to be blanks, but could still have been dangerous at close range and he was later imprisoned for five years. Prince Charles said that his mum wasn't fazed, telling the press she was "made of strong stuff."

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