Man guilty in foiled 2021 crossbow attack on Queen Elizabeth

London: A man told a UK court on Friday that he wanted to "injure" Queen Elizabeth II after sneaking into Windsor Castle armed with a loaded crossbow on Christmas Day in 2021.

Jaswant Singh Chail, 21, who was detained on the grounds of the royal residence while the late Queen was there, pleaded guilty to three charges during a criminal court hearing.

They include a section of the 180-year-old Treason Act, admitting an "intent... to injure the person of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, or to alarm Her Majesty".

He had also been charged with making a threat to kill the Queen and having a loaded crossbow, an offensive weapon, in a public place.

Chail, from southern England, allegedly told a protection officer when he was apprehended that he was "here to kill the Queen".

Appearing at the capital´s Central Criminal Court, known as the Old Bailey, via video-link from high-security psychiatric hospital Broadmoor, he admitted all three charges.

He is now due to be sentenced at the same court on March 31.

The incident happened as the Queen spent Christmas Day that year at Windsor Castle with her eldest son and heir, Prince Charles, and his wife Camilla. (AFP)