A woman obsessed with Prince Andrew managed to trick her way into his official residence by pretending she was there for a date — wandering around for at least 20 minutes while he was home, according to a report.
The smartly dressed 44-year-old Spanish woman was so convincing that she had a lunch date with the duke that security guards even paid for her taxi when she arrived at Royal Lodge on Monday, The Sun said.
She then spent at least 20 minutes wandering around his gardens — before heading inside while he was home, the paper said.
“She was very confident and walked around like she owned the place,” a source told the UK paper.
“She cut quite a glamorous figure and the guards were completely taken in by her.
“They had no idea this woman was a total stranger to Andrew and seemingly had a fixation with him,” the source said.
She reportedly only gave herself away when she started talking to a member of staff to try to find out where Andrew was.
“To the staff member’s shock, the woman then claimed to be engaged to Prince Andrew and said she was there to get married to him,” the source told The Sun.
“She said that was the reason why she had flown over from Spain a couple of days earlier.”
After first being detained by security, she was eventually arrested on suspicion of burglary and later sectioned under the Mental Health Act, The Sun said. She was not identified by the paper.
“By all accounts the woman had a map of the Royal Lodge and other Royal residences, including Buckingham Palace, in her handbag,” the paper’s source said.
“She was also found to have a key-ring that was in the shape of a cat, which had spikes on it and could be used in self-defense.
“That potential weapon apparently caused the police some concern,” the source stressed.
Royal Lodge is also currently home to Andrew’s ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, as well as their daughter Princess Eugenie, son-in-law Jack Brooksbank and new grandson August, the paper noted.
“It is being dealt with as a major security breach,” the source said.
“Someone is for the high jump over this.”