The Queen made a dry-witted comment when she was told about an intruder at Windsor Castle had threatened to kill her on Christmas Day, according to a new royal biography.
- The Queen's humorous remark to the Windsor Castle intruder announcing his plans to kill her on Christmas Day has been revealed in a new royal biography.
- Her Majesty was apparently unfazed after she learned that Jaswant Singh Chail, a supermarket worker from Southampton, had tried to break into the Berkshire royal residence with a loaded crossbow.
- In other royal news, Queen Camilla quietly donates generous gift to deserving cause.
The Queen showed off her humorous side when she was told that an intruder had arrived at Windsor Castle on Christmas Day and threatened her life, new royal biography has claimed.
Jaswant Singh Chail was apprehended on December 25, 2021, after he attempted to break into the royal residence in Berkshire at approximately 8.30 am.
It's understood that the 19-year-old, who was armed with a loaded crossbow, announced to Windsor Castle's guards that he had come to 'kill the Queen'. Chail was immediately handcuffed by security, arrested, and sectioned under the Mental Health Act. In August, he was charged under the Treason Act for "discharging or aiming firearms, or throwing or using any offensive matter or weapon, with intent to injure or alarm her Majesty."
The Queen's surprisingly calm reaction to the incident has now been revealed, proving just how steely that late monarch could be when it came to security risks. According to Gyles Brandreth's new biography, Elizabeth: An Intimate Portrait, the royal matriarch made a quick-witted remark when she learned about the trespasser's arrival.
Her Majesty apparently joked, "Yes, well, that would have put a damper on Christmas, wouldn't it?"
At the time, the Queen was inside Windsor Castle with the now King Charles III and Queen Camilla. The festive morning marked her first Christmas as monarch without her husband Prince Philip, who died aged 99 the previous April.
Windsor Castle
Brandreth, who is a former Conservative politician and close friend of the Royal Family, also said that the Queen had always understood "the possibility of being in the firing line in her stride" as head of the British monarchy."
"The fun of spending time with the Queen was both finding out how much fun she was and discovering unexpected things about her," the 74-year-old added.
Her Majesty also apparently had a knack for voices, nailing George Formby's Lancashire accents when she sang When I'm Cleaning Windows and even doing an "alarmingly accurate vocal recreation of Concorde coming in to land over Windsor Castle."
