The Royal Family's security team is facing an increasing challenge as the number of potential stalkers continues to rise. In the past three years, nearly 500 individuals have been flagged as threats, with 35 of them deemed to pose the highest risk, per the Mirror. This is an 11 percent increase from the previous period when 24 people fell into the most serious category, per figures from the Metropolitan Police's Fixated Threat Assessment Centre.
The police's Royalty and Specialist Protection Team works tirelessly to safeguard the Royal Family, but former Met royal protection chief Dai Davies warned that the danger is ever-present. "Unfortunately, there will always be deranged individuals who want to harm the Royal Family," he told the Mirror. "The difficult task is identifying those with the means and determination to act."
Some of these stalkers are so fixated on their targets that they even write to them, providing their real names and addresses, Davies continued. "There are probably 50 to 100 people they are currently monitoring who they feel could pose a significant risk," he said. "Quite often these people will be mentally unwell and some will be quite unsophisticated."
While police have a good idea of individuals who are currently targeting the royals, Davies cautioned that "there may be many more lurking in the shadows," adding it's "impossible for the police to be 100 percent confident" that they have a full picture of those with malicious intent.
Several high-profile security breaches highlight the serious threats the Royal Family has averted over the years. Princess Anne survived a dramatic kidnapping attempt in 1974, and in 1982, a man broke into Queen Elizabeth's bedroom while she slept. More recently, a crossbow-wielding man broke into the Windsor Castle grounds on Christmas Day in 2021 and announced he was going to kill Queen Elizabeth, and in 2022, an intruder dressed like a priest spent the night on castle property.
Prince Andrew's home, Royal Lodge, was also the site of an alarming security incident when a woman wandered in (aided by unaware security guards) after claiming to have a lunch date with him.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been the target of numerous threats over the years, with an alleged stalker arrested outside their home in 2023. And in November, masked intruders stole vehicles from a farm on the Windsor Castle grounds close to Prince William and Princess Kate's home, proving that security remains an ongoing concern for the family.
