Man arrested near Buckingham Palace after climbing walls to Royal Mews

A man has been arrested near Buckingham Palace after climbing the walls of the nearby Royal Mews.

The Metropolitan Police said officers at the palace responded to a person climbing the wall and entering the Royal Mews at 1.25am on Saturday.

A 25-year-old man was detained outside the stables in the Royal Mews following a search. At no point did the man enter Buckingham Palace or the Palace Gardens, according to Scotland Yard.

The man has been arrested under the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act for trespassing on a protected site. He has been taken into custody at a London police station where he remains.

King Charles III was not present at the time, having been several hundred miles away in East Ayrshire, where he officially opened a farming and rural skills centre on the Dumfries House estate, a stately home which he helped save.

It comes several months after a man was arrested outside Buckingham Palace after throwing suspected shotgun cartridges into the palace grounds, police said, detaining him under the Mental Health Act.

The Royal Mews is responsible for all road travel arrangements for the King and members of the royal family, from horse-and-carriage to car and from livery to harness, according to the palace website.

The working stables house the 260-year-old Gold State Coach, used at State occasions such as the coronations of the King and his mother Queen Elizabeth II, and last year’s Platinum Jubilee.

While the current Royal Mews, built in 1825, are situated in the gardens of Buckingham Palace, monarchs have had mews since King Richard II’s reign in the 14th century. For a century until Henry VII assumed the throne, they were housed at Charing Cross, where the National Gallery now stands.

Scotland Yard’s statement on the arrest said: “A man has been arrested in the Royal Mews area adjacent to Buckingham Palace.

“At 01:25hrs on Saturday, 16 September, officers at Buckingham Palace responded to a person climbing the wall and entering the Royal Mews. Following a search, a 25-year-old man was detained by officers outside the stables in the Royal Mews.

“At no point did the man enter Buckingham Palace or the Palace Gardens.

“The man has been arrested under the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act for trespassing on a protected site. He has been taken into custody at a London police station where he remains.”