If there’s one family you think would be safe from home invasion it’s the Royal Family, as King Charles and his clan have the heaviest state-supplied security in the land. Despite this, Prince William and Kate Middleton received a scare this weekend when a duo of masked burglars broke into the Windsor Castle estate while they and their three children were tucked up in bed.
On Sunday night, two masked men managed to break into the extensively guarded and protected estate and even escaped without being apprehended. The unknown duo smashed through a security gate with a stolen truck and proceeded to scale a six-foot fence in order to steal farming vehicles. After breaking into a barn, the pair fled the scene in a purloined pick-up and a quad bike.
Luckily, they intended no personal harm to the Royals in attendance at Windsor. While the king and Queen Camilla count Windsor Castle as one of their official residences, they spend most of their time in London’s Clarence House. However, the Prince and Princess of Wales and their children — Prince George (11), Princess Charlotte (9), and Prince Louis (6) — count the estate’s Adelaide Cottage as their primary home and have done since 2022. The cottage is just five minutes away from the barn that was burgled.
Windsor Castle estate break-in — what happened?
According to what a source told The Sun, the official thinking is that the two thieves must’ve been, if not professionals, then at least very well-prepared. “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,” shared the source. “So they must have been watching Windsor Castle for a while.”
It’s unknown exactly how the burglars were able to succeed as they did. Despite there being alarms and armed guards stationed around the estate, it was only when the thieves’ truck plowed its way through the security barrier at Shaw Farm that the security team became aware of the break-in. The Waleses themselves are suspected to have been already asleep by the time of the incident.
“It was 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,” The Sun‘s source claimed.
The incident has been officially confirmed by a spokesperson for Thames Valley Police, who shared the following with the press: “At around 11.45pm on Sunday October 13, we received a report of burglary at a property on Crown Estate land near to the A308 in Windsor.”
The spokesperson continued: “Offenders entered a farm building and made off with a black Isuzu pick-up and a red quad bike. They then made off towards the Old Windsor/Datchet area. No arrests have been made at this stage and an investigation is ongoing.”
The gate, which has been thoroughly wrecked, will now have to be replaced and the Royal Family may wish to rethink their whole security strategy after this embarrassing blunder. It’s not exactly a good look when the British equivalent of Harry and Marv from the Home Alone movies get the better of them. Disney is probably already trying to secure the rights to the story as we speak.