Windsor Castle intruder Jaswant Singh Chail charged with treason

A man, arrested with a crossbow at Windsor Castle in London last year, has been charged with treason.

Met Police said Jaswant Singh Chail from Southampton has also been charged with making threats to kill and possession of an offensive weapon with intent to "alarm her Majesty”.

The 20-year-old man had been arrested on Christmas Day when he was carrying a crossbow on the grounds of the castle where Queen Elizabeth usually resides.

He will appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on August 17.

Nick Price of Crown Prosecution Service’s counter-terrorism division said that criminal proceedings against Chail “are active and that he has the right to a fair trial”.

"This decision has been made following an investigation carried out by the Met's Counter Terrorism Command," Price said.

The 96-year-old monarch was at the castle at the time of the incident along with her son and heir Prince Charles, his wife Camilla and other members of the family.

The alleged intrusion by Chail took place as the Queen spent a low-key Christmas Day at the castle.

Police said Chail had not broken into any buildings but the Treason Act, under which is charged makes it an offence to have a firearm or offensive weapon in the presence of the monarch with intent to injure or alarm her.

Security breaches at royal residences are rare and the previous most serious one in 1982, when an intruder climbed a wall to enter Buckingham Palace and made his way to her bedroom.

In 2003, Aaron Barschak wearing a pink dress and an Osama bin Laden-styled beard evaded security and gatecrashed the 21st birthday party of Prince William.

Chail’s family, comprising his parents and a sister, live at North Baddesley, a Southampton suburb, media reports said after the incident last year. His parents reportedly run an information technology firm.

In a video, he allegedly made a reference to the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre in India during British rule.