Hugh Buchanan,
‘Desks in the Royal Lodge’, 2000
The Royal Collection
A GANG of sinister intruders smashed their way into the estate where Prince Andrew and Fergie live.
Three or four men, dressed in black and wearing balaclavas, demolished gates with a Range Rover.
They drove around the grounds at Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park, Berks, for several minutes before being spotted on CCTV and fleeing.
Andrew, 50, and his daughters Princesses Beatrice, 21, and Eugenie, 20, were on holiday in Scotland with the Queen. His ex-wife, the Duchess of York, 50, who lives in another part of the Lodge, was in Spain.
No police were on duty at the time because the royals were away.
The gang passed near the Royal Chapel of All Saints - a small church where the Queen often worships - and even briefly got out on foot to explore the gardens.
When they knew they had been rumbled they sped off and escaped through little-known back roads and tracks.
Investigation
A police source said last night: "They could have been burglars who didn't realise they were breaking into a royal home. Or they could have been terrorists bent on mayhem.
"It looked like a well-planned operation because they were disguised and knew how to escape through back roads."
Beatrice and Eugenie returned from holiday yesterday to find their home - where the Queen Mother used to live - crawling with armed cops.
The source said: "This incident highlights how easy it would be for someone to get in and plant a bomb or to hide. It should never be allowed to happen and a major investigation is under way."
The incident happened on Monday morning at around 5am. The source went on: "If they hadn't been seen, who knows what device they could have planted?"
Prince Andrew has constantly fought against proposed cutbacks to royal security, particularly for his daughters, who are fifth and sixth in line to the throne.
Prince Andrew inherited Royal Lodge after the Queen Mum's death in 2002.
Update:
A 43-year-old man was arrested on “suspicion of conspiracy to commit theft” after three people broke into the grounds of the home of Britain’s Prince Andrew, Queen Elizabeth’s second son, police said on Thursday.
(He has since been released on bail until 16 September.)
The intruders entered the grounds of Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park, west of London, in a car on Monday, but did not get into the building and nothing was taken, a police spokeswoman said.
The prince and his daughters, Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice, were not there at the time. His ex-wife, Sarah, who has remained good friends with the prince and lives in a separate part of Royal Lodge, was also away.
Buckingham Palace declined to comment.
Art Hostage Comments:
This was an attempt to steal high value art and antiques.
Specifically, the Queen Mother desks in the photo above, which is a watercolour by Hugh Buchanan commissioned for the 100th Birthday of Queen Mother in 2000.
"If at first they don't succeed, they will try, try and try again" is the message from the Art Crime Underworld.
What happened next, this below:
http://arthostage.blogspot.com/2010/08/stolen-art-watch-prince-andrew-lucky.html
I kid you not, the link below is for a festival that promotes art theft, teaches it as well,
"Get the fuck outta here" as they say in New York
1 comment:
Police have arrested a man after a carload of people was spotted in the grounds of the Royal Lodge in Windsor Park earlier this week, and advised him that if he really wants to meet Prince Andrew he should go abroad and buy some British-made weapons at a trade fair, according to the traditional procedure.
The Duke of Pork was, unsurprisingly, not at home when the break-in occurred, as he was taking time out from his punishing routine of shaking hands with arms dealers to waste some time and taxpayers’ money playing silly buggers on the waterways of Scotland.
His estranged wife Sarah Ferguson was also away, said a spokesman for Thames Valley Police, probably trying to scrounge some cash in Spain.
“If you’re on holiday on the Costa del Sol, innocently walking down the street, and you see a speckly ginger frump eagerly rushing towards you like an old friend, for God’s sake don’t let her sell you a timeshare,” he added.
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