By Hundreds of unpunished crimes at royal palaces new figures show
According to the Metropolitan Police, a total of 470 crimes were recorded at Buckingham Palace, Kensington Palace, St James’s Palace and Clarence House between 2019 and 2021.
This includes hundreds of thefts along with reports of arson, criminal damage, burglary, robbery, possession of weapons and violence against the person offences.
According to data released under the Freedom of Information Act, less than 1% of the crimes resulted in someone being charged, cautioned or fined.
Former head of royal protection at Scotland Yard Dai Davies said the number of crimes was “astonishing” and “frightening”.
The former chief superintendent told Sky News: “If you can steal or cause incidents at or near the royals, what does that say about the current security?
“If these offences have an impact on the personal safety of the royals, that would give me great concern.”
An FOI submitted by Sky News asked for the crime statistics for the four royal residences.
Some information was not released by the Met for law enforcement and national security reasons.
In total, 383 crimes were recorded in 2019, before a sharp drop in offences during the coronavirus pandemic, with 64 crimes reported in 2020 and 23 in 2021.
Among the offences were:
• Theft – 380
• Possession of weapons – 25
• Drug offences – 17
• Arson and criminal damage – 15
• Violence against the person – 15
• Public order offences – 8
• Robbery – 7
• Burglary – 1
• Vehicle offences – 1
• Miscellaneous crimes against society – 1
Of the 470 crimes recorded, just nine resulted in someone being charged or summonsed.
One caution was issued, along with one penalty notice for disorder.
