Man arrested after incident outside Buckingham Palace detained under the Mental Health Act

The man was also carrying a knife and a ‘suspicious bag’ and a controlled explosion was carried out

The 59-yeat=old man was arrested on Tuesday after the incident outside Buckingham Palace (AP)

A man arrested outside Buckingham Palace after throwing suspected shotgun cartridges into the grounds has been detained under the Mental Health Act.

Police swooped on the 59-year-old around 7pm on Tuesday after he approached the palace gates, asked to speak to a soldier and threw a number of items, believed to be shotgun cartridges, into the grounds.

He was later found to be carrying a knife and a “suspicious bag” which was destroyed in a controlled explosion.

The man was arrested on suspicion of possessing an offensive weapon and taken into custody. Police confirmed on Thursday that he had been detained in hospital under the Mental Health Act. He will remain on bail whilst receiving treatment.

There were no reported injuries and the incident is not being treated as terror-related.

In a press briefing on Wednesday, Metropolitan Police deputy assistant commissioner Ade Adelekan said the man had spoken to a police officer on guard and “asked to speak to a soldier”.

“They said that wasn’t possible, at which point he threw some shotgun cartridges over the gates,” he added.

“They grabbed him in seconds, he was detained, he was searched and he was found to be in possession of a lock-knife.”

Mr Adelekan said that while being arrested, the man raised officers’ suspicions about his backpack by telling them it “needed to be handled correctly”.

The bag was destroyed but police have not confirmed what was inside, or finished analysis of the shotgun cartridges.

Neither the King nor the Queen Consort were at Buckingham Palace at the time of the incident, but Charles had hosted Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese there earlier on Tuesday.

The incident came amid an increased police presence around Buckingham Palace and other major sites in the capital for rehearsals ahead of Saturday’s coronation.

Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to travel to London to celebrate the historic occasion, while protests are also expected to take place.