King Charles menaced by drones during Zelenskyy visit, concerned security services step in

On Mar. 2, King Charles welcomed Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy at his Sandringham Estate. The visit came hot on the heels of Zelenskyy’s extremely dramatic visit to the White House, which ended angrily and disastrously. Charles’s invitation was widely seen as a way to calm the waters, particularly as the British royals are considered to be exceptionally good at dealing with Trump himself.

But it seems there was more to this occasion than meets the eye. It has come to light that the Sandringham Estate was being closely monitored by mysterious drones during Zelenskyy’s visit, sparking what’s described as a “major security scare”.

On seeing drones and other mysterious lights in the sky, Britain’s security services flew into action. One was tracked down to a private individual in a car nearby, and another was traced to a photographer. However, many more remain unaccounted for, leaving Charles’ security on high alert. After all, there’s an obvious reason why Russian agents would monitor Zelenskyy’s visit, with “suicide drones” a lethal weapon in modern-day war.

An insider speaking to The Sun said: “Days later the total all-year round drone ban was imposed. There have been mysterious and unexplained drone sightings at three US air bases in East Anglia where Russia has been suspected. Zelensky visiting Charles would be of huge interest to Russian spies.”

While a successful drone attack on King Charles and Zelenskyy feels audacious even by Russian standards, those protecting them would be fools to dismiss it out of hand. As such, a blanket ban on drone activity over Sandringham has been approved by the government, with UK Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander saying:

“The Secretary of State has decided that it is necessary in the public interest to restrict flying in the vicinity of Sandringham House, Norfolk, having regard to the security considerations associated with this location by reason of it being the residence of members of the Royal Family.”

They’re right to be concerned, as the danger of drone-based assassination is very real. Off-the-shelf drones are easily modified to carry explosives and be remotely triggered, with a potential assassin able to be some distance away from the attack and then flee the scene unnoticed.

There are advancements in anti-drone tech to counter this kind of attack (like jammers, microwave weapons, and net guns), but relying on those when a remote-controlled explosive drone is zipping through the air at world leaders feels like flipping a coin.

At least for now, the complete ban on any low-level flight over Sandringham may resolve the issue, as security can assume that any drone sighted is evidence of a bad actor and take action accordingly. But really, it’s just a matter of time before we get an assassination attempt by drone.