Man Who Plotted to Kill Queen Elizabeth at Windsor Castle on Christmas Sentenced to Jail

The intruder became the first person convicted of treason in Britain in over 40 years

The young British man who breached the grounds of Windsor Castle on Christmas Day in 2021 with a plan to kill Queen Elizabeth has received a prison sentence.

On Thursday, Jaswant Singh Chail was sentenced to a nine-year hybrid order at the Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, the Metropolitan Police said in a statement. The 21-year-old man from Southampton will split the sentence between a mental health facility and prison, then remain on license for five years after his release.

“Chail had been planning his actions for several months, and up until shortly before his arrest, his intent to cause serious harm to or kill the Queen was clear,” Commander Dominic Murphy of the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command said in the statement. “The professionalism, skill and bravery that the officers demonstrated as they confronted a masked man armed with a crossbow was exemplary. The fact that nobody came to any harm was down to the way they handled the situation. This could have easily ended up with somebody getting seriously injured, or worse.”

“An extremely thorough investigation was carried out after Chail’s arrest and the vast amount of evidence gathered by detectives has led to his conviction for these very serious offences,” he continued. “Day in, day out, officers from our Royalty and Parliamentary Protection Command carry out their duties with great dedication and professionalism, keeping the individuals and locations they protect safe from a whole host of potential threats and risks.”

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Around 8 a.m. on Dec. 25, 2021, Chail was arrested on the grounds of Windsor Castle, where Queen Elizabeth and members of the royal family, including now-King Charles and Queen Camilla, were celebrating. The intruder wore a metal mask, black clothes and carried a loaded crossbow. It’s thought that he entered the premises by scaling the walls surrounding the ancient castle with a rope ladder, CNN reported.

According to the outlet, he told officers, “I am here to kill the Queen,” before being arrested.

Shail was detained under the Mental Health Act, and the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command proceeded to lead the investigation. In Thursday’s statement, police said that he had circulated a video about wanting to hurt Queen Elizabeth shortly before his arrest and had thoroughly planned the attack.

“Evidence recovered by officers showed that he harboured ill-feeling towards the British Empire for its past treatment of Indian people, and his plan to kill the Queen was driven by his desire to target a symbol of the empire — the Monarchy,” the Met Police said.

Related: Plot to Kill Queen Elizabeth During US Visit in 1983 Revealed by FBI

Authorities added that Chail had previously applied to join the Armed Forces as a potential means of gaining access to the royal family.

The intruder was charged in August 2022 with making threats to kill, possession of an offensive weapon and an offense under section 2 of the Treason Act 1842.

He pleaded guilty to the three charges at Central Criminal Court, which is known as the Old Bailey, in February. The New York Times reported that it marked the first conviction under the Treason Act in more than 40 years.

According to the Associated Press, Chail did speak during the sentencing and apologized to King Charles and the royals for the “distress and sadness” he caused in a letter to the court.

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“He is embarrassed and ashamed he brought such horrific and worrying times to their front door,” defense lawyer Nadia Chbat said, according to the AP.

Like millions of others, Queen Elizabeth had to reimagine her holiday plans due to the coronavirus pandemic in 2021. She opted to not head to her Sandringham estate in Norfolk, where she normally stayed during the season, and celebrated instead at Windsor Castle as the Omicron variant caused a spike in COVID cases.

As she did throughout her record reign, the monarch delivered her traditional Christmas broadcast and members of the royal family, including Charles and Camilla, joined her for Christmas at the castle. The couple attended a church service at St. George's Chapel at Windsor that morning, though the Queen was not pictured.

On Sept. 8, 2022, Queen Elizabeth died “peacefully” at age 96 at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, hours after her doctors announced they were “concerned” for her health. Her cause of death was later revealed as “old age.”

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