Police has confirmed that two armed officers approached the Duke of York, the third child of Queen Elizabeth II, as he took an evening stroll on Wednesday and has since apologised.
"I am grateful for their apology and look forward to a safe walk in the garden in the future. The police have a difficult job to do balancing security for the royal family and deterring intruders, and sometimes they get it wrong," the Duke said in a statement.
Royal protection officers were said be "jittery" after a genuine intruder had been found in the Palace's state rooms.
The Metropolitan Police, however, denied reports that the officers had pointed guns at the 53-year-old royal, who is fifth in line to the British throne, and shouted at him to get down on the ground.
"On Wednesday, September 4 at approximately 1800 hrs, two uniformed officers approached a man in the gardens of Buckingham Palace to verify his identity. The man was satisfactorily identified. No weapons were drawn and no force was used, " a police spokesman said.
"No members of the Royal Family were at Buckingham Palace at the time of the incident," a police spokesman said.
The 87-year-old queen is currently on holiday at Balmoral Castle in Scotland.
Andrew had been in London to visit PopUp Piccadilly, a scheme to support new retail businesses. He had only just returned from a two-week holiday in Spain, with his former wife Sarah, the Duchess of York, and their daughters Bea and Eugenie.
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