THE Queen has been caught up in a major new security scare after two intruders broke into her Windsor estate.
Police arrested two intruders — a man, 31, and his girlfriend, 29 — after they scaled fences at Windsor’s Royal Lodge last Sunday.
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Two intruders have been caught breaking into Windsor estate
It is the second security scare surrounding the Queen in just six days
The spot is near where Her Majesty, 95, walks her beloved corgis and goes riding.
Six days earlier a woman was mistakenly let into the lodge grounds by guards. Prince Andrew, 61, lives there and is understood to have been at home each time.
The grieving Queen, living at nearby Windsor Castle, has been a regular visitor since the death of husband Philip.
‘HEADS COULD ROLL’
Ken Wharfe, Princess Diana’s personal protection officer for seven years, said last night: “When you take these incidents into account then it is a farce.
“It is totally unacceptable and makes the Queen vulnerable. This is very worrying and things really need to change.”
In the latest drama, on April 25, police found the intruders in the lodge grounds which include All Saints Chapel where the Queen goes to service.
The pair were arrested and taken to Maidenhead police station. They were later released on police bail pending further inquiries.
A source added: “This is an astonishing lapse. Everyone was on high alert after the first intruder, now this happens. Heads could roll. It is unforgivable.
“The couple wandered around for ages before anyone spotted them and police were called.
A man and a woman scaled the fences at Royal Lodge, where Prince Andrew lives
Six days ago a woman was mistakenly let into the grounds
Andrew is understood to have been at home on both occasions
Her Majesty regularly walks her beloved corgis in the area
“Andrew was at home at the time. You have to wonder what on Earth is going on up there.”
On Monday April 19, a woman believed to be a Spanish national aged 44, turned up at a lodge gate in a taxi.
She claimed that she was Andrew’s fiancée and said they had a lunch appointment.
Guards waved her in and she spent 20 minutes walking around before going into the lodge where she was stopped in the lobby.
She was arrested on suspicion of burglary and later sectioned under the Mental Health Act.
The two lapses raise questions over whether the Queen would be better off at Buckingham Palace.
But royal biographer Penny Junor said Her Majesty prefers staying at Windsor.
HMS BUBBLE
She said: “No one would wish to deprive the Queen of seeking solace wherever she chooses but it is worrying that security should be so lax around a building where she is such a frequent visitor.
“Andrew was in. By the grace of God, the Queen wasn’t. But she might well have been.
The Queen has been a regular visitor to Royal Lodge since the death of Prince Philip
“She has been spending increasing amounts of time with Andrew since the Duke’s death.
“Today security at Buckingham Palace is state-of-the-art — and possibly the only royal residence that is.”
The Queen has spent the past seven months at the castle due to Covid restrictions.
She arrived in September after a short break at Balmoral and Sandringham.
Due to “HMS Bubble” rules she has not been inside Buckingham Palace since March last year.
She regularly walks and rides in the grounds of the lodge, where Andrew has lived since his divorce from Sarah Ferguson.
The Met provides full-time, armed security to royals at their palaces and homes.
Only senior royals have full-time, round-the-clock bodyguards.
The Met’s Special Escort Group provides mobile armed protection when royals are travelling.
The Thames Valley force provides general policing around the castle. The Queen is also guarded by the Foot Guards of the Household Division based at Victoria Barracks, just outside the castle walls.
A former royal protection officer says ‘it is totally unacceptable and makes the Queen vulnerable’
The two lapses raise questions over whether she would be safer at Buckingham Palace
Other security lapses at Windsor include comic Aaron Barschak dressing as Osama Bin Laden to gatecrash William’s 21st birthday party at the castle in 2003.
In March 2012 an intruder scaled a fence at the castle and got within yards of the Queen’s private apartments before being captured.
Security fears were raised last year during a planning application to move the Royal Collection Trust’s retail HQ out of the castle and into Windsor Great Park.
Documents said: “Security of the Home Park and castle is becoming tighter and as part of this it is intended to reduce incoming vehicle movements.”
Dai Davies, head of the Met’s Royal Protection Unit in the 1990s, said: “The Queen likes to wander around the grounds at Windsor.
Andrew is often photographed driving three miles across the Great Park to see the Queen at her private apartments. His 30-room Royal Lodge has two security gate posts for visitors.
The mansion is surrounded by miles of fences, walls and trees, which run through the royal park where the latest intruders are believed to have gained access.
Andrew’s daughters Beatrice, 32, and Eugenie, 31, and their families often visit him and their mum Sarah, who also lives there.
Thames Valley Police confirmed officers were called to reports of two trespassers in the lodge grounds on the afternoon of Sunday, April 25.
The Queen has spent the past seven months at the castle due to Covid restrictions
