Windsor Castle estate has been targeted by masked raiders in a terrifying security scare as Prince William, Kate Middleton and their children slept in their nearby home.

Two men are said to have scaled a six foot fence during the night to steal farm vehicles. The men are said to have driven off in a pick-up truck and on a quad bike that had been stored in a barn.

King Charles and Queen Camilla were not at the residence at the time. However, the Prince and Princess of Wales and their three children were believed to be at Adelaide Cottage nearby.

William and Kate live at nearby Adelaide Cottage with Prince George, Prince Louis and Princess Charlotte (

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"They must have been watching Windsor Castle for a while," a source told the Sun. Adelaide Cottage is just five minutes from Windsor Castle, and the family is regularly seen using the wrecked gate, which is the nearest exit to their home.

The men targeted Shaw Farm, which is a working farm inside the Castle's secutity zone. The source said the men would have known the vehicles were stored in the barn before breaking in, and would have known the best time to get in and out in order to escape detection.

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"There are alarms at Windsor Castle but the first time anyone knew there was a break-in was when they crashed through the security barrier at Shaw Farm Gate exit," the source said. "The barrier has needed to be replaced as it was so badly damaged. It was a Sunday night on a school week so the young princes and princess would have been tucked [up] in bed at Adelaide Cottage, just around the corner but still in the grounds."

Charles and Camilla were not said to be home at the time but it's believed William, Kate and their kids were in the nearby Adelaide Cottage (

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The Prince and Princess of Wales moved to Adelaide Cottage in the summer of 2022. During late Queen Elizabeth's funeral, the procession at Windsor Castle began from the Shaw Farm gate.

The raid happened at a farm on the Windsor Castle estate (

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A spokesperson for Thames Valley Police told the Sun: "At around 11.45pm on Sunday October 13, we received a rpeort of burglary at a property on Crown Estate land near the A308 in Windsor. Offenders entered a farm building and made off with a black Isuzu pick-up and a red quad bike.

"They then made off towards the Old Windsor/Datchet area. No arrests have been made at this stage and an investigation is ongoing." The Mirror has contacted Thames Valley Police and Buckingham Palace for comment.