Prince Andrew challenged by police in palace gardens

Prince Andrew was challenged by jittery royal protection officers in the gardens of Buckingham Palace last week as they stepped up security following a break-in, police admitted on Sunday.

The Duke of York, the third child of Queen Elizabeth II, was approached by two armed officers as he took an evening stroll on Wednesday at the monarch's official London residence, a spokesman for Scotland Yard said.

However, the spokesman denied a newspaper report that the officers had pointed guns at the 53-year-old duke and shouted at him to get down on the ground.

"On Wednesday, 4 September at approximately 1800 hours (1700 GMT) two uniformed officers approached a man in the gardens of Buckingham Palace to verify his identity," the spokesman said.

"The man was satisfactorily identified. No weapons were drawn and no force was used."

Buckingham Palace declined to comment on the incident.

Two days earlier, a man was arrested inside the palace in a major security breach. He had scaled a fence to get into the building in central London.

He was arrested for burglary, trespass and criminal damage, while a second man was arrested outside the palace on suspicion of conspiracy to commit burglary.

Police said no members of the royal family were in the palace at the time. The 87-year-old queen is currently on holiday at Balmoral Castle in Scotland.

The break-in represented one of the most serious security breaches at the palace since 1982 when unemployed Michael Fagan got inside the queen's private chambers while she was in bed.

Fagan spent 10 minutes talking to the queen after climbing over the palace walls and up a drainpipe before she was able to raise the alarm.