A few days before the coronation of King Charles III. (74) there was an arrest and a controlled explosion at Buckingham Palace. How the police reported, a man approached the palace gate on Tuesday evening and threw several objects on the palace grounds. It was believed to be shotgun cartridges.
The man was arrested on suspicion of possession of a weapon, it said. A suspicious bag he was carrying was detonated in a controlled manner. The area has been cordoned off. According to police, no one was injured. There were initially different reports as to whether King Charles was in the palace at the time. The According to the BBC he didn’t do it, the dpa also reports that.
“There have been no reports of any shots being fired or injuries to officers or the public,” a police spokesman said. The officers arrested the man immediately. The newspaper The Guardians according to the police do not consider it a terrorist incident. The suspect’s mental health is currently under investigation. The arrested man is believed to have acted alone and the incident is being treated as an isolated case. Roads were temporarily closed during the operation.
The incident comes just days before a royal mega-event in central London. On Saturday, King Charles and his wife Camilla are to be driven in a procession by carriage from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey to be crowned there. Tens of thousands of onlookers are expected along the route. The police are on a large scale to ensure security. The events now are likely to further increase the tension among the security authorities.
This isn’t the first time gunmen have attempted to enter British royal palaces. On Christmas Day 2021, a man had gained access to the grounds of Windsor Castle with a loaded crossbow. According to his own statements, he wanted to kill Queen Elizabeth II, who had died in the meantime. The Queen and other members of the Royal Family were in the castle at the time. A policeman stopped the masked man. The man was convicted of high treason, among other things. The sentencing is still pending.