Buckingham Palace Arrest: Armed Man Taken Into Police Custody, Royals Not Home

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by Josh Grossberg | Mon., Feb. 4, 2013 1:47 PM

Chris Jackson/Getty Images; Britain on View/ZUMA Press

Queen Elizabeth II—not to mention Prince Harry, Prince William and Kate Middleton—can rest easy.

A man was arrested by police outside the gates of Buckingham Palace on Sunday after allegedly causing a public disturbance when he launched into a tirade and brandished two knives, E! News confirms.

Talhat Rehman, 54, was taken into custody and charged with two counts of possessing a bladed weapon and one count of affray, which under English common law is defined as the fighting of two or more persons in a public place that causes ordinary people to fear for their safety.

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According to the Telegraph, Rehman, a onetime Tory candidate for Brent Council in North West London, began acting aggressively and shouting amidst a large crowd of tourists during the middle of the Changing of the Guard ceremony.

He then pulled out the two knives, one of which he held to his throat and the other to his chest. When an officer ordered him to drop the weapons, he waved the blades wildly at police. He was finally subdued after being shot with a Taser.

Rehman is scheduled to appear at Westminster Magistrates court later today.

Luckily, neither the queen, Prince Philip, nor any of the other royals, including Prince William and his pregnant wife Kate Middleton, was at Buckingham Palace at the time of the incident.

See pictures of Kate Middleton's baby bump camouflage