Security Bombs At Windsor Castle
This week's royal wedding in Britain has run into a series of obstacles. It's even had to be postponed for a day. And now, there is new trouble, CBS News Correspondent Mark Phillips reports.
Now, the problem is a gap in royal security. And with all the trouble this wedding has had, it's a about the last thing Charles and Camilla needed.
About three days before the wedding, a van pulls up in front of Windsor Castle. Police question the driver and then let him pass.
The problem is, the people in the van had no appointment and their ID was bogus. They were from one of Britain's tabloid newspapers, The Sun, and they videoed their spectacularly easy breach of the supposed ring of steel that's to protect the castle and its occupants.
What's worse is what was inside the van.
There were several boxes in there, one of which had the word "bomb" written on it. Inside was a fake bomb with wire and plastic and batteries so it could have been appeared to be nothing else. And thenewspaper staff drove around, videoing themselves all the way.
"I am concerned, I am certainly irritated," said Sir Ian Blair, commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, which is responsible for royal security.
"I do not want to prejudge this because we have a disciplinary process to go through but it looks as though somebody has done something pretty stupid," Blair said. He confirmed that one officer had been moved to a different assignment as a result.
"Perhaps it is a wake-up call, but I would not expect anyone in my organization to need a wake-up call," Blair said.
Blair, Britain's most senior police officer, recently listed the royal wedding among several "obvious and enormous targets" for terrorists along with a national election in May and a G8 summit in Scotland in July.
The Sun's stunt followed a string of royal security blunders stretching back decades.
In 1982 a mentally disturbed man, Michael Fagan, climbed a drainpipe and spent 10 minutes sitting on the queen's bed at Buckingham Palace, holding a broken ashtray and talking with her before guards arrived.
A comedian dressed as Osama bin Laden gatecrashed Prince William's 21st birthday party at Windsor Castle in 2003. Later that year, a reporter from the Daily Mirror got a job as a servant at Buckingham Palace and took pictures of the royals' living quarters.
In September, a protester dressed as Batman climbed onto a ledge on the front of Buckingham Palace and remained there for several hours.
Police say they're investigating what went wrong this week.
As to what else can go wrong: The weather forecast says it might snow on Saturday.