A group of travellers last night set up camp on the Long Walk of Windsor, in full view of Her Majesty’s private quarters.
The group parked vehicles and up to 30 caravans and motorhomes outside the legendary Windsor Castle, widely regarded as the Queen’s favourite royal residence and the one in which she’s currently staying at.
Prince Andrew was observed driving through the camp in his Range Rover yesterday, apparently unperturbed by his new neighbours.
Last night, officials launched an attempt to move the travellers on, with images showing police, council officials and Windsor Park wardens all in dialogue with the group, and it’s understood the group have since disbanded.
The vans and motorhomes were parked near signs which state that vehicles are forbidden, while photographs revealed the group blocking the Long Walk.
The 2.6-mile track, a popular tourist attraction, connects Windsor Castle with Snow Hill in Windsor Great Park. It’s still used by the royal carriages every year as part of the route from Windsor Castle to the Ascot Races.
One person who earlier saw the group said they were amazed at how they’d parked their vehicles on the Long Walk.
Much of the 2,000-hectare royal estate is open to the public free of charge from dusk until dawn.
While the Queen has spent much of her time at Windsor Castle during the pandemic, including after the death of her husband Prince Philip in April, she’s believed to have left for Balmoral earlier this month to privately mourn the consort’s passing, but she’s since returned to the residence.
The royal standard, the flag which when flown means that the Queen is present, was yesterday observed hovering above the Berkshire castle, and yesterday, while at Windsor, the monarch took part in a virtual audience at Buckingham Palace to receive His Excellency Dr Zalmai Rossoul, Ambassador from Afghanistan.
It comes as travellers earlier were seen parked up in an affluent park in West London. Officials said they would be forced out after the local council took its five-day battle to remove them to the High Court.
Legal representatives from Richmond Council were seeking a court order for their removal from Kew Green, where the group have unsettled neighbours over the bank holiday weekend.
The order was expected to be approved, with a local authority spokesperson saying that how much time the group has to leave depended on the court, and what was the Queen’s security doing at the time all the travellers arrived?
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