Man charged with trespassing into grounds of UK's Buckingham Palace

A man was due in court on Friday charged with scaling a perimeter wall to get into the grounds of Buckingham Palace, the home of Britain's Queen Elizabeth, London police said.

Dennis Hennessy, 41, was due to appear before Westminster Magistrates' Court after being charged with trespass on a protected site and criminal damage.

Police said he had been arrested in the grounds of the palace on Wednesday night seven minutes after an alarm was activated.

"I am content that our security measures worked effectively on this occasion and at no time was any individual at risk," Commander Adrian Usher, head of London police's Royalty and Specialist Protection unit, said.

Neither the police nor Buckingham Palace would confirm whether members of the royal family were at the palace but it is believed the queen was at the residence at the time having carried out the State Opening of Parliament hours earlier.

A spokesman for the queen said they did not comment on security issues.

One of the biggest security breaches at Buckingham Palace happened in 1982 when an intruder, Michael Fagan, climbed a wall and wandered into a room where the queen was in bed.