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Jewels belonging to Queen Camilla were stolen from a service station when royal aides left them unattended in a car. It was reported that a local gang swooped on the bag contained the jewels as aides took a break. The theft happened as The Queen and King Charles were preparing to travel to Canada for a three-day tour in 2022. They were heading across the Atlantic as part of the late Queen Elizabeth's Platinum Jubilee celebrations. Author and journalist Robert Jobson detailed the embarrassing incident in his book, Windsor Legacy: A Royal Dynasty. Jobson said their trip got off to a 'rocky start' when the opportunistic thieves struck at a petrol station on the M40, reports the Mirror . He wrote: "At Beaconsfield Services, located off Junction 2 of the M40 motorway in Buckinghamshire, Camilla's jewels were stolen after three royal aides left the bag, labelled 'HRH The Duchess of Cornwall', unattended in an unlocked car. "A local gang struck when one aide stepped away for a cigarette while the other two were inside getting coffees." Jobson claims MI5 were soon deployed to the area and managed to track down the thieves using nearby CCTV. He says her jewels were recovered within a matter of hours. Senior royal sources however were said to be "amazed" that the incident was never made public knowledge. But the author continued: "No charges were filed, no police report was ever made, and the incident was buried to avoid embarrassment." Buckingham Palace have refused to comment on the claims made by Jobson. The Royal Family have faced threats from criminals throughout the years. Armed assailant Ian Ball shot police officers during a bungled kidnapping attempt of Princess Anne in March 1974. The Princess Royal famously told the then 26-year old Ball it was "not bloody likely" she would accompany him. This occurred as he pursued the limousine carrying the princess and her then-husband Mark Phillips through London's streets and onto the Mall. He was eventually overpowered by retired heavyweight boxer Ronnie Russell. Ball was subsequently sectioned under the Mental Health Act and remained in Broadmoor and Rampton psychiatric hospitals for 45 years. Reports suggest he was released in 2019. Anne was reportedly "furious" about the incident, as Ball engaged in a "tug of war" that tore her favourite blue velvet gown. In 1981, Christopher John Lewis allegedly conspired to kill Queen Elizabeth and planned to assassinate other royals. He's said to have discharged a weapon as the Queen visited Dunedin. Documents released in 2018 revealed police and bystanders heard "what they took to be a shot" and Lewis was subsequently arrested. The BBC cites official documents stating: "Lewis did indeed originally intend to assassinate the Queen," but he "did not have a suitable vantage point from which to fire, nor a sufficiently high-powered rifle for the range". Lewis died in custody while awaiting trial for murder in a separate case in 1997.
