Windsor Castle intruder threatened to ‘assassinate the Queen’

The intruder who broke into Windsor Castle brandished a crossbow and didn’t expect to survive the assassination attempt, chilling video suggests.

The intruder who broke into Windsor Castle on Christmas morning reportedly brandished a crossbow, threatened to “assassinate the Queen” and professed to be a “Sith” — a member of the Dark Side in Star Wars.

Jaswant Singh Chail, 19, channelled Darth Vader in a chilling video clip published by the Sun, which also posted a separate photo of the boyish-looking teen.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry for what I’ve done and what I will do. I will attempt to assassinate Elizabeth, queen of the royal family,” the hooded young man says in a distorted voice while holding the black weapon.

“This is revenge for those who have died in the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre,” Chail continues, referring to the Massacre of Amritsar in India, where British troops killed 379 unarmed protesters and wounded some 1,200 on April 19, 1919.

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Britain's Queen Elizabeth records her annual Christmas broadcast in the White Drawing Room in Windsor Castle on December 23. Picture: Victoria Jones/Pool via REUTERS

“It is also revenge for those who have been killed, humiliated and discriminated on because of their race,” adds the suspect, who is also wearing a white mask.

“I’m an Indian Sikh, a Sith. My name was Jaswant Singh Chail, my name is Darth Jones,” he says in a possible reference to James Earl Jones, the 90-year-old actor who became well known as the voice of Vader in the original Star Wars trilogy.

In Star Wars, the Sith are an ancient religious order of Force-wielders devoted to the Dark Side of the Force — the enemies of the Jedi Knights.

Chail reportedly posted the Star Wars-themed clip 24 minutes before being arrested.

The suspect, who hails from Southampton, somehow managed to slip into the royal residence, where 95-year-old Queen Elizabeth was staying with her family for the holiday.

He apparently used a rope ladder to scale a metal fence to enter the gardens at the residence, according to the outlet.

Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, and Prince Edward and his wife, Sophie, were also at the castle, about an hour’s drive outside London.

The Sun's front page reporting the story.

Officers said the man did not access any buildings and that “security processes were triggered within moments” of him entering the grounds.

Thames Valley Police Superintendent Rebecca Mears told the Sun that an investigation into the incident is ongoing.

“The man has been arrested on suspicion of breach or trespass of a protected site and possession of an offensive weapon,” Mears said. “He remains in custody at this time. We can confirm security processes were triggered within moments of the man entering the grounds, and he did not enter any buildings.”

In a statement, a Metropolitan Police spokesman said that “following a search of the man, a crossbow was recovered. The man was taken into custody and has undergone a mental health assessment.

“He has since been sectioned under the Mental Health Act and remains in the care of medical professionals,” the statement added, the Telegraph reported.

Chail, who is known to his friends as Jas, said he did not expect to survive the attack on the monarch, the Sun reported.

“I’m sorry to all of those who I have wronged or lied to. If you have received this then my death is near. Please share this with whoever and if possible get it to the news if they’re interested,” he wrote in his chilling post, according to the outlet.

Windsor Castle is the primary residence of Queen Elizabeth II and her family.

Police said they were investigating the video, which also featured a framed image of Star Wars villain Darth Malgus on a wall behind the masked man, the Sun reported.

His father, Jasbir Singh Chail, 57, told the Daily Mail on Monday that “something’s gone horribly wrong with our son and we are trying to figure out what.

“We’ve not had a chance to speak to him but are trying to get him the help he needs. From our perspective, we are going through a difficult time. We are trying to resolve this issue and it’s not easy,” the software engineer told the outlet.

Police were seen going in and out of the home where the suspect lives with his family.

“There was a big commotion with all the police around and it caused some concern, especially as it was Christmas Day,” one neighbour told the Sun.

“The family keep themselves to themselves, like the rest of the estate, but we know there’s a teenage lad who lives there with his mum and dad,” the neighbour said.

“The police didn’t leave the estate until late at night. Everyone was wondering what was going on. We saw the Windsor story in the news but never thought our road would be at the centre of it,” the person added.

This story originally appeared on Page Six and is republished here with permission.