He had broken into Windsor Castle “to kill the Queen” because of the United Kingdom’s colonial past: A 21-year-old man admitted in court on Friday that he wanted to attack Elizabeth II with a crossbow on Christmas Day 2021.
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Jaswant Singh Chail had been arrested on the morning of December 25, 2021, his face covered with a metal mask and carrying a crossbow near the homes of the then 95-year-old sovereign. Charged under the extremely rarely used Treason Act, he pleaded guilty at a hearing in London to “willful manufacture or possession of a loaded crossbow with intent to injure or injure the person of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.” offend Your Majesty”.
Because he pleaded guilty, a trial is not necessary. The judge announced that his verdict would be announced on March 31st. The young man also pleaded guilty to death threats and illegal gun possession.
At the time of his arrest, after entering the perimeter of the castle, he told police that according to prosecutors, he “was there to kill the Queen”. He was then admitted to the psychiatric ward.
Elizabeth II then spent the end of the year celebrations – her last – at Windsor, her principal residence, with her heir Charles, who became king when the sovereign died in September. She had refrained from traveling as usual to Sandringham in east England due to the resurgence of Covid-19 in the UK due to the Omicron variant.
She was joined that day by several family members including her sons Charles and Edward and their wives.
According to prosecutors, shortly before taking action, Mr Chail had sent a video to about 20 people claiming he was going to try to assassinate Elizabeth II. According to prosecutors, he said he acted out of resentment towards the British Empire and sought revenge on the “establishment” for the treatment of Native Americans.
Shortly after the incident, The Sun tabloid published images of a video said to have come from her Snapchat account.
Dressed in a black hoodie and white mask, this former supermarket worker from Southampton, southern England, holds the crossbow and says: ‘I’m sorry for what I did and will do. I will try to assassinate Queen Elizabeth”.
The incident had raised concerns about security measures to protect the monarch. According to British media, Mr Chail had entered the territory of the castle using a rope ladder.
At the time, police pointed out that security procedures “were initiated after the man entered the premises” and that he “did not enter any building.”
However, attempted break-ins in Windsor, such as Buckingham Palace, the Queen’s residence in central London, are no exception.
The most spectacular dates back to 1982 in Buckingham, when thirty-year-old Michael Fagan managed to make his way to the Queen’s bedroom while she was in bed.
In 2021, a man with mental health problems was seen climbing the enclosure of the Royal Mews, the stables of the British royal family, and shortly afterwards crossing it in the opposite direction back to the road. He was quickly arrested with cocaine and a kitchen knife. Elizabeth II was not there.
Since 1842, Section 2 of the Treason Act has penalized attempts to “hurt or harm Her Majesty”, but recourse to the text is exceedingly rare. The most famous case dates back to 1981, when Marcus Sarjaent was sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to firing five blanks at Elizabeth II during a parade.