For years, there’s been debate about where Prince William actually lives. Few people believe that he was living full-time – or even part-time – at Adelaide Cottage. There are always stories about people seeing William’s helicopter fly into London, where he presumably stays at Kensington Palace some nights or most nights. Now the Wales family has declared Forest Lodge to be their latest “forever home.” They’ve received millions of pounds’ worth of security upgrades and they grabbed 150 acres of public parkland. But… they also still retain their apartment at Kensington Palace. That was also supposed to be their forever home, remember? Well, just before Christmas, an intruder broke into the Kensington Palace grounds. Twice.
An intruder twice got into the grounds of the Prince and Princess of Wales’s official London residence in the run up to Christmas. Derek Egan, 39, has been charged with trespassing on a protected site at Kensington Palace on December 21 and 23. He was carrying a heavy rucksack and was arrested by officers from the Metropolitan Police’s Royal and Specialist Protection Command in the gardens of the residence on both days, according to The Sun, which first reported on the security breach.
The Prince and Princess are understood to have not been at the palace on either occasion.
After his arrest on December 23 he was remanded in custody and appeared before Bromley Magistrates Court on Christmas Eve. He appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court on New Year’s Eve. He reportedly pleaded guilty to both charges and will be sentenced next week. He is said to have been caught after scaling fences on the public side of the palace near the entrance to Hyde Park before being spotted on CCTV.
Dai Davies, the former head of the Metropolitan Police’s Royal and Specialist Protection branch told The Sun: “The fact he repeated the offending after being given bail, given the nature of it, gives serious cause for concern. The police must work out what level of danger the Royal Family were in, and based on the charges, why on Earth he was given bail?”
“Any attempt to get into Kensington Palace needs careful investigation into the motive, any mental health concerns, and if the person is fixated on a royal. If this person wasn’t already on a list, he certainly will be now. You never know what someone may do when they attempt to break in. There are still a number of royals living at Kensington Palace, so any intrusion is of course concerning. I’m glad this man has been caught. This shows the police can never be off guard when protecting our Royal Family.”
It’s bizarre to act as if the Waleses are the only royals with a place inside KP. Eugenie lives in one of the cottages adjacent to the main palace, I believe. All of the Kents still live in KP too, as do the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester. Were any of them in residence when this man scaled the fence twice?
Incidentally, the security expert quoted here, Dai Davies, recently wrote a piece in the Daily Mail about how Prince William and Kate NEED all of that security for Forest Lodge because they’re so important and under such extreme threat. Davies rather belligerently argued that no one is allowed to question the Forest Lodge move or the need to grab all of that parkland. Like… does it not occur to any of these people that William and Kate simply could have chosen a different forever home much more conducive to the kind of security they need? And even with all of that security… some guy off the street broke into palace grounds twice.
Photos courtesy of Cover Images.
