British police arrest "sinister intruder" spotted royal grounds

Aug 5, 2010, 18:40 GMT

London - British police have arrested a man who was spotted with two others near the home of Prince Andrew, and his former wife, Sarah Ferguson, earlier this week, a spokesman said Thursday.

Police said the 43-year-old man had been arrested at his home in Slough, near Windsor Castle just outside London, on suspicion of planning to commit theft in the early hours of Monday.

He was one of three people spotted on CCTV cameras near the Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park, which remains the shared home of Prince Andrew and his ex-wife despite their 1996 divorce.

Neither Andrew, 50, nor his ex-wife, or their two daughters, Beatrice and Eugenie, were there at the time, and nothing was stolen, police said.

Windsor Great Park, which is open the public, is adjacent to Windsor Castle, the home of Queen Elizabeth II when she is not in London. However, in August, the queen stays at Balmoral, in Scotland.

'At approximately 5.05 am on Monday 2 August, three people entered the area of Windsor Great Park, in a vehicle ... They exited minutes later and nothing was stolen. The method of entry remains under investigation,' said a police statement.

According to the Sun newspaper, the three or four 'sinister intruders,' who were dressed in black and wearing balaclavas, demolished the gates with a Range Rover.

'It looked like a well-planned operation because they were disguised and knew how to escape through back roads,' the Sun quoted a police source as saying.

'They could have been burglars who didn't realize they were breaking into a royal home. Or they could have been terrorists bent on mayhem,' said the paper in its online edition.

The two princesses had returned home Wednesday to find it 'crawling with armed police.'

'This incident highlights how easy it would be for someone to get in and plant a bomb or to hide. It should never be allowed to happen and a major investigation is under way,' said the Sun.