A man has been charged under the Treason Act after he was arrested while allegedly carrying a crossbow in the grounds of Windsor Castle “with intent to injure” the Queen on Christmas Day, the Crown Prosecution Service said.
Scotland Yard said Jaswant Singh Chail, from Southampton, has been charged with an offence under section 2 of the Treason Act 1842.
The CPS added he had been charged with “being near to the person of the Queen, wilfully producing a loaded crossbow with intent to use the same to injure the person of Her Majesty”.
Chail has also been charged with threats to kill under section 16 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 and possession of an offensive weapon under section 1 of the Prevention of Crime Act 1953.
The 20-year-old is in custody and will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on August 17.
Nick Price, head of the CPS Special Crime and Counter-Terrorism Division, said the CPS has authorised the Metropolitan Police to charge Chail “after he was arrested in the grounds of Windsor Castle on December 25 2021 carrying a crossbow”.
“Mr Chail, 20, has been charged with making threats to kill, possession of an offensive weapon and an offence under the 1842 Treason Act,” he added.
“The Crown Prosecution Service reminds all concerned that criminal proceedings against Mr Chail are active and that he has the right to a fair trial.”
Under the 1842 Treason Act, it is an offence to assault the Queen, or have a firearm or offensive weapon in her presence with intent to injure or alarm her or to cause a breach of peace.
In 1981, Marcus Sarjeant was handed a prison sentence under this section of the Treason Act after he fired blank shots at the Queen while she was riding down The Mall in London during the Trooping the Colour parade in 1981.
He was jailed for five years after pleading guilty.
The last person to be convicted under the separate and more serious 1351 Treason Act was William Joyce, also known as Lord Haw-Haw, who collaborated with Germany during the Second World War.
