The news of the
near-shooting comes at a time when the public is particularly tuned into the
Queen’s wellbeing. The elderly monarch was not seen for a fortnight over the
Christmas period due to poor health.
It is one of the perks of
being a member of the archaic hereditary UK monarchy that you have armed guards
watching over you at all hours.
But that apparently almost
backfired for the Queen when she decided to take a late-night walk around the
palace grounds and came close to being shot.
From time to time her
majesty is said to struggle to sleep. During a spell of insomnia, the
90-year-old will occasionally put on her coat and go for a short stroll, an
ex-guardsman told The Times.
Late one night, he said he
was patrolling inside the perimeter of the Palace walls when he spotted a
figure in the darkness.
Thinking that he had caught
a potentially dangerous intruder, sneaking into the Royal residence at 3am, he
shouted: “Who’s that?”
But to his surprise, it was
actually the Queen.
“Bloody hell, Your Majesty,
I nearly shot you,” he is reported to have said, on impulse.
Perhaps realising this
wasn't the tone to be used when addressing the Queen, he told The Times he
expected a telling off. But the Queen reportedly took responsibility for
putting him in such an awkward position.
“That’s quite all right,”
she replied. “Next time I’ll ring through beforehand so you don’t have to shoot
me.”
It is believed the
encounter happened at the Queen’s normal weekday residence, Buckingham Palace.
In 2013, Prince Andrew was
also mistaken for an intruder and confronted by armed police as he walked in
the vast gardens.
Police said no weapons were
drawn but issued an apology to the prince, despite the palace having been
subject to several real security breaches in recent years.
In August, a 22-year-old
man was arrested just after 4am after climbing over a security fence. He was
spotted by officers monitoring CCTV.
In May, Denis Hennessy, 41,
climbed over barbed wire and roamed the palace grounds for about 10 minutes while The Queen, Prince
Philip, and Prince Andrew were in residence.
When he was found by
officers he repeatedly asked them: “Is Ma’am in?”
They Should Haave Shot Denis The Intruder.
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