Palace Intruder Arrested After Insisting To See Queen Elizabeth Before Platinum Jubilee

Queen Elizabeth will be making a public appearance this week for her Platinum Jubilee celebration, but one man wanted to see her days before the event.

Connor Attridge, 28, got arrested Sunday night after trespassing the Queen's royal residence in London. He entered through the vehicle gate of the Royal Mews when it opened for an authorized vehicle, according to PA.

He was told to stop but refused and managed to breach the boundary by three to five meters. He had a face tattoo that read "truly blessed."

"I want to come in. I want to see the Queen," he said before getting ushered out of the gate and arrested.

The Queen was not at Buckingham Palace at the time of the incident. She has been staying at Windsor Castle since 2020. She traveled to her Balmoral estate in Scotland for a "short break" over the weekend.

Her Majesty traveled back to Windsor Tuesday ahead of this week's festivity, which will kick off Thursday with Trooping the Color at Buckingham Palace.

Attridge's lawyer, Daniel Mullin, said that he suffers from mental illness and had "no motive or desire to go further than he did."

"This was at worst reckless and at best bordering on an accidental offense," Mullin told Westminster Magistrates' Court.

Several incidents of intrusion got reported in the past months. In December, a 19-year-old from Southampton in southern England got arrested for breaching the Windsor Castle grounds where the Queen spent her holidays. The security processes got triggered before the intruder could enter any building, Reuters reported.

Prince Charles, Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, and other royal family members were later spotted arriving for a Christmas church service at St. George's Chapel within the Windsor Castle complex.

In April, another security breach was reported after a man, who pretended to be a priest, gained access to the barracks of the royal guard in Windsor Castle. The Queen was not in Windsor at the time as she was celebrating her 96th birthday in her Sandringham estate. The police were summoned, and the man, who struggled with mental illness, was removed.

"We received a report of an intruder at Victoria Barracks in Sheet Street, Windsor, at 9.20 a.m. on Wednesday," Thames Valley Police said in a statement obtained by Town & Country. "Officers attended and removed the intruder from the barracks. No further action was required."

"The Army takes this breach of security extremely seriously and it will be thoroughly investigated as a matter of priority. This incident is now part of an ongoing investigation, and it would therefore be inappropriate to comment further at this time," a spokesperson for the British Army told People.

Security breaches at royal residences are rare. The most serious incident was when a man climbed the wall to enter Buckingham Palace. The intruder wandered into the Queen's room, Reuters pointed out.

The Queen will make a balcony appearance for Trooping the Color Thursday. She will be accompanied by the working royals, including Prince Charles, Camilla, Prince William, Kate Middleton, Princess Anne, Prince Edward, Sophie, Countess of Wessex, and more.