Prince William and Kate Middleton are reportedly shaken up after an Oct. 13, 2024, break in at the Windsor Castle estate, just five minutes from the Adelaide Cottage home they share with their three children, George, Charlotte, and Louis.
A former Scotland Yard detective told GB News the couple must be “very concerned” following the security breach, which saw burglars breach the estate’s perimeter and steal farm vehicles in the night. Mike Neville also predicts a security review will be resultantly be launched.
“If the police were not busy policing tweets and were busy policing the streets, would they be catching more burglars? And I think that’s what will most people be thinking today,” Neville claimed, seemingly voicing disdain for the U.K.’s policies on social media criminal offenses (anyone with an X account knows social media is not effectively policed).
Neville added the theft of farming equipment is “a big issue in rural communities,” but that the breach opens up concerns about what could have happened had the men’s intentions been violent, “it only had to be some terrorists, didn’t it, with the same small amounts of planning.”
Neville believes there will be a “major meeting” at the Thames Valley Police with the security services to go over how the Royal Family should be protected. “I imagine there’s a massive amount of CCTV. There’ll be trip alarms that go off if people cross certain areas, there’ll be all sorts of armed patrols and detection officers as well.”
William and Kate have been making headlines for the more modern approach to monarchy, but Neville claims this event points to their aim’s futility. “They [the prince and princess] might want to live as normal life as possible, but they don’t live a normal life today. They are targets for all sorts of terrorism, that’s two future kings in that building. So there’ll be a real massive review here.”
What happened the night of the break-in
On Sunday, Oct. 13, two masked men broke into the guarded estate by entering through a breached security gate in a stolen truck. They then scaled a six-foot fence and stole farming vehicles from Shaw Farm.
A source told The Sun the criminals were well-prepared, “They must have been watching Windsor Castle for a while.” They added, “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.”
The pair escaped after breaking into a barn and fleeing in a black Isuzu pick-up and a red quad bike they found there. Nobody was harmed and all members of the Royal Family were, at minimum, five minutes away from the burglars.
“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.” Considering it was a Sunday night, the kids would have likely been sleeping at Adelaide Cottage, located around the corner but still on the grounds.
Armored police had previously been removed from the estate’s gates reportedly due to an officer shortage, which will probably be a point of contention. A spokesman for Thames Valley Police confirmed the incident took place at around 11:45 pm and that no arrests have been made in the ongoing investigation.