LONDON — Burglars broke into the grounds of Britain’s royal Windsor Castle in October and stole two vehicles, it has emerged.
The estate is the primary residence of Prince William, Princess Kate and their family.
In a statement to NBC News on Monday, Thames Valley Police said it received a report of a burglary “at a property on Crown Estate land” at around 11.45pm on Sunday 13 October.
The offenders entered a farm building and “made off with a black Isuzu pickup and a red quad bike” before heading toward a nearby town, police said.
“No arrests have been made at this stage and an investigation is ongoing,” the statement added.
The Sun newspaper first reported the news of the burglary on Sunday.
William, Kate and their three children live at nearby Adelaide Cottage in Windsor, a few miles from where the incident took place. King Charles III and Queen Camilla’s primary residence is Clarence House in London, close to the monarch’s official residence of Buckingham Palace.
Neither Buckingham Palace or Kensington Palace immediately responded to a request for comment from NBC News.
“As parents of young children, the prince and princess want to ensure that the place they’re living in is as secure as possible, and I’m pretty sure that is the case,” said NBC News royal contributor Emily Nash.
“But it’s obviously concerning when anything like this happens, particularly in an area that you’d expect to be very secure,” she said.
This is not the first security breach in Windsor in recent years.
On Christmas Day in 2021, a man armed with a crossbow climbed a fence at Windsor Castle, and claimed he wanted to kill Queen Elizabeth II who was staying at the castle at the time.
The man was handed a nine-year prison sentence for treason, possession of an offensive weapon, and making threats to kill.
“Places like this will always be a target,” added Nash.
