Man Who Wanted to Kill Queen With Crossbow Admits Treason Charge

A man who showed up at Windsor Castle carrying a crossbow and saying he wanted to kill the Queen has pleaded guilty to a charge under the Treason Act, making him the first person convicted of treason in the UK for 42 years. 

Jaswant Singh Chail, 21, was arrested after he arrived at the castle on Christmas Day 2021. 

Appearing at London’s Old Bailey court via videolink from Broadmoor maximum security psychiatric hospital on Friday, he also admitted making threats to kill and possessing the loaded weapon in the castle. 

The maximum sentence for treason is life in jail.

Chail, from Hampshire, southwest England, said in Snapchat posts before his arrest that he wanted to assassinate Queen Elizabeth II to avenge a notorious British colonial massacre in India.

He was first seen wearing a hood and a metal mask while walking around a private part of the castle grounds on Christmas morning 2021 by a royal protection officer who was standing in front of a gate guarding the Queen's private apartments. 

After taking out his Taser gun, the officer said: “Morning, can I help, mate?” 

Chail, who had climbed into the grounds using a rope ladder, said: “I am here to kill the Queen.”

Chail dropped the crossbow, which was loaded and had the safety catch off, and got to his knees when the officer told him to, and again said: “I am here to kill the Queen.”

He was found to be carrying a note, saying: "Please don't remove my clothes, shoes and gloves, masks etc, don't want [a] post-mortem, don't want embalming, thank you and I'm sorry."

In the Snapchat posts prior to his arrest, he said: “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.”

He added: “This is revenge for those who have died in the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre. It is also revenge for those who have been killed, humiliated and discriminated on because of their race.”

The massacre, one of the most shocking episodes in British colonial history, saw British soldiers shoot at people in Amritsar who were peacefully protesting against a new colonial act that allowed some political cases to be tried without juries. The official death toll was put at 379 but the real number is believed to be nearer 1,000. 

Chail is due to be sentenced on the 31st of March at the Old Bailey.