Strange man living off government benefits found by police in Buckingham Palace gardens but then given grovelling apology. Man enjoying privileged lifestyle on government handouts said to be 'furious'

 

Don't you know who I am? 

Prince Andrew's blast at armed police who mistook him for an intruder at Buckingham Palace 48 hours after security scare

• Duke of York was mistaken for an intruder while walking in Palace garden
• He reacted with fury when heavily armed police told him to prove his identity
• But Metropolitan Police says no weapons were drawn and no force was used
• Encounter came after man was found wandering around Buckingham Palace
• DJ Victor Miller has now been detained until the Mental Health Act

Prince Andrew reacted with fury at gun-wielding officers who mistook him for an intruder at Buckingham Palace and asked him to 'verify his identity.'  

Two heavily-armed policemen confronted him as he walked in broad daylight through the grounds, sources revealed last night. 

The fifth-in-line to the throne stood his ground asking the officers 'Don't you know who I am?' and was said to have ‘made his thoughts plain’ during the highly-charged confrontation that followed.

A royal source said: ‘He was incredibly, incredibly angry. It was very much a case of guns being pointed at him and “halt who goes there”.’

Yesterday police issued a humiliating apology to the Duke of York over the extraordinary error.

According to the Daily Mirror, a source said that the Duke was red faced as he shouted at officers like a school teacher.

They said: 'It got pretty heated because he just kept repeating himself "Don't you know who I am?".

'He felt the officers had sneaked up on him and believed they had behaved disrespectfully towards him.'

They added that when the penny dropped they apologised to Prince Andrew. But this was not enough.

The source added: 'He gave them a proper dressing down, shouting at them like a schoolteacher before he walked back to the main house - completely livid.'

It was the second police fiasco within three days at what should be one of the most secure estates in Britain. Just 48 hours earlier officers discovered a mentally ill man attempting to smash down a door with a  fire extinguisher after he scaled a 12ft wall and broke in.

Yesterday Scotland Yard revealed senior officers had personally apologised to  Prince Andrew in a bid to draw a line under the latest matter.

Incident: Prince Andrew had gone for a walk around the gardens in Buckingham Palace when the two officers stopped him 

In an unprecedented statement, a spokesman said: ‘We are grateful to the Duke for his understanding and have apologised for any inconvenience caused.’ 

Scotland Yard declined to comment on reports that the officers shouted at the 53-year-old royal, telling him to ‘put your hands up’ and ‘get on the ground’.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk