A man has been arrested outside Buckingham Palace after a fire was set outside the gates of the royal residence.
Shocking video shows the small blaze at the front gates of the King’s official residence.
A man can be seen on the floor, being tackled and handcuffed by two police officers. He was arrested on suspicion of causing criminal damage, the Daily Mail reported.
Witnesses say the police arrived at the scene “within seconds” of the fire starting.
In a statement, the Metropolitan Police said: “Shortly after 22.08hrs on Tuesday, 20 December, a 30-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of causing criminal damage after a small fire was seen near the Buckingham Palace gates.
“The man has been taken into custody. The fire has been extinguished.”
The motivations behind the fire are unknown.
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In May, a man was arrested at the Palace for trespassing and telling staff: “I want to see the Queen.”
Back in 2019, an intruder was on the loose at the Palace in the middle of the night while Queen Elizbeth II slept just metres away.
The Sun reported the man, 22, was able to scale a fence at the front of the building to get inside the then 93-year-old monarch’s home, where he was able to attempt to bang down the doors of the residence.
The man was arrested and held on suspicion of trespass. According to sources it took police on site around four minutes to apprehend him.
In 2013, a 44-year-old man was charged after being caught with a knife rushing through the front gate at the Palace. The Queen was not in residence at the time of the incident.
The most famous intrusion occurred in 1982 when Michael Fagan broke into the Queen’s bedroom.
The 31-year-old unemployed man began to tell Her Majesty about his family problems, she pushed the panic button by her bed but got no response.
The monarch then telephoned the switchboard, but the operator thought it was another member of staff playing a joke and replied: “Yes, dear, you’re the Queen, we’ll send someone up!”
Fagan smashed a large glass ashtray and threatened to slash his wrists as he sat on the end of the Queen’s bed.
The Queen’s long-time aide Paul Whybrew came to the rescue. He returned with her corgis, and as she called him in, he saw Fagan and began talking to him.
Mr Whybrew offered him a drink and then, when his guard was down, manhandled him outside where a maid fetched a policeman.
Fagan wasn’t charged over the break-in. A palace spokesperson said he had simply trespassed, a civil law violation, but not a crime in Britain.
He did end up being sent to court again – not for intruding in the Queen’s bedroom but for drinking Prince Charles’ wine, which was considered “stealing”.
The judge acquitted him.
Charles has not moved to Buckingham Palace and stays at Clarence House when he is in London.
– With The Sun