Windsor Castle Raided by Thieves While William, Kate and Children Are Asleep at Home

A major security breach occured at Windsor Castle, where thieves pulled off a heist as Prince William, Princess Kate Middleton and their three children were asleep nearby.

Two men were able to scale a 6-foot high fence and make off with farm vehicles in an October incident, The Sun reported on Monday, November 18.

Prince William, 42, Kate, 42, and their three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, live in Adelaide Cottage on the grounds of the of Windsor Home Park, about five minutes from Windsor Castle.

The thieves targeted Shaw Farm, a working farm on the Windsor property, and left by crashing through a security gate frequently used by the first in line to the British throne and his family, the outlet reported. The masked men stole a pickup truck and a quad bike from a barn to make their escape.

“It was a Sunday night on a school week so the young princes and princess would have been tucked in bed at Adelaide Cottage, just around the corner but still in the grounds,” a source told The Sun.

The thieves “would have to have known the vehicles were stored there before they broke in and known when was the best time to get and escape without being caught,” the insider continued. “So they must have been watching Windsor Castle for a while.”

“There are alarms at Windsor Castle but the first time anyone knew there was a break-in was when they crashed through the security barrier at Shaw Farm Gate exit,” the source added. “The barrier has needed to be replaced as it was so badly damaged.”

While the royal family has yet to comment on the incident, the Thames Valley Police, which handles security for the area, told People, “At around 11.45 p.m. on Sunday October 13, we received a report of burglary at a property on Crown Estate land near to the A308 in Windsor. Offenders entered a farm building and made off with a black Isuzu pick-up and a red quad bike. They then made off towards the Old Windsor/Datchet area.”

“No arrests have been made at this stage and an investigation is ongoing,” the statement concluded.

William and Kate moved their family from their official residence at London’s Kensington Palace to Adelaide Cottage, a modest four-bedroom home in Windsor, in 2022.

The spacious Apartment 1A at Kensington Palace features 20 rooms and is now used as the royal couple’s London base for their office team, entertaining and other royal business in the city.

Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, 9, and Prince Louis, 6, began classes at the Lambrook school, located not far from the Windsor estate, in September 2022. Both William and Kate have been photographed making school runs to drop off and pick up their children.

In 2016, the Prince of Wales spoke of his desire to give his children a “normal” upbringing, despite their royal status.

“As far as we are concerned within our family unit, we are a normal family,” he revealed in 2016. “I love my children in the same way any father does, and I hope George loves me the same way any son does his father. We are very normal in that sense.”