Planes will no longer be able to fly low over Windsor Castle, on the outskirts of London where Queen Elisabeth II has resided since the start of the pandemic, local police said on Tuesday. This restriction of airspace, up to 2,500 feet (760 meters) and within a radius of 1.25 nautical miles around the castle, will come into effect on January 27, the Thames Valley Police said.
“Maintain the safety of the community living near this emblematic place”
Police said the decision was taken following public consultation. “Any flight inside this restricted area will require authorization,” on pain of prosecution, she said in a statement. In addition to “regular” police patrols and “other security measures”, “this order is an additional method of maintaining the safety of the community living near this iconic location”, located near London’s London airport. Heathrow, she added.
This decision to limit the airspace comes after a man tried, on Christmas Day, to enter, armed with a crossbow, into the territory of the castle where Elisabeth II, 95, resides and where she was passing. celebrations. It goes badly with the association “Stop Heathrow Expansion”, which campaigns against the expansion of this airport, the largest in the United Kingdom. The restriction involves redefining flight paths west of the airport, which “could result in overflights of other areas and disrupt the lives of more people,” activist Geraldine Nicholson said in a statement. .
