Many of us today often read about individuals harassing celebrities, sometimes even stalking them relentlessly. However, this is not a new phenomenon, and history shows us that similar incidents have occurred in the past—arguably with even more daring culprits. One such notable figure was a young teenager in 19th-century England known as “The Boy Jones.” He became infamous for his repeated intrusions into Buckingham Palace, disturbing Queen Victoria, and even going as far as stealing some of her personal belongings, including her underwear—an unprecedented and bizarre incident in the palace’s history.
The story began at 5 AM on December 14, 1838, when one of the staff at Buckingham Palace noticed a grease-smeared face of a teenager sneaking through the palace. Upon investigation, it was discovered that one of the rooms had been burglarized. The alarm was raised, and the guards started a chase inside the palace to find the intruder. The boy was eventually caught running across the lawn and was dragged into the kitchen, where the lighting was better. Upon closer inspection, it was revealed that not only was the boy’s face smeared with grease, but his clothes were as well. He was also wearing two pairs of trousers, and when the police stripped off one pair, several women’s undergarments fell out.
The guards began interrogating the teenager and discovered that he had entered the palace and wandered through its grand rooms, corridors, and bedrooms as if he knew the place well. He even entered the Queen’s room and stole her undergarments, along with her portrait, a letter, and some bed linens. Fortunately, Queen Victoria was staying at Windsor Castle that night. Upon further questioning, the boy identified himself as Edward Cotton, the 14-year-old son of a tailor from Westminster. He also confessed that it wasn’t his first time in the palace—he had managed to sneak in several times before, hiding behind furniture or inside chimneys during the day and roaming the palace halls at night. Incredibly, he had even hidden under a table during meetings between the Queen and her ministers, eavesdropping on their conversations. When he got hungry, he would help himself to the kitchen, and when his clothes got too dirty, he washed his only shirt in the laundry room. The boy had been living in the palace for nearly a year without being detected.
With no other option, the guards handed him over to the police, and he was brought to trial on December 19, where the courtroom was packed with journalists. During the session, one of the witnesses recognized him, and when asked about his motives, the boy denied stealing anything, claiming he had found the items in the palace garden. After a trial filled with laughter, the jury acquitted him. However, just two years later, on December 3, 1840, the “Boy Jones” scaled the palace walls once again. This time, it was just two weeks after Queen Victoria had given birth to her first child with Prince Albert. The Queen’s nanny found the boy hiding under a couch in the room adjacent to the Queen’s bedroom. Victoria wrote in her diary, “Imagine if he had entered my bedroom… How terrifying that would have been!”
The boy was arrested again and put on trial, but this time his father’s request to have him declared insane was denied. He was sentenced to three months in a reform school. After his release, he attempted to sneak into the palace once more and was sentenced to three months of hard labor. The boy’s peculiar behavior puzzled the authorities, as he had not committed a serious crime, so they couldn’t send him to a British prison. The authorities tried to persuade him to join the navy to keep him out of trouble, but he refused.
For years after, even though he was arrested several times, he continued to return to Buckingham Palace, managing to sit on the throne twice and continually harassing Queen Victoria in ways that baffled many. Some historians have speculated that the nation’s fascination with Victoria played a role in his bizarre obsession. Unlike her corrupt and ineffective royal uncles, Queen Victoria was seen as a fresh start for the nation—young, innocent, and widely beloved. As her fame grew, so did the attention of her admirers. Some even proposed to her, throwing love letters into her carriage, and others, like the jeweler Thomas Flower, went to extreme lengths. Flower was once caught sleeping in a chair near the Queen’s bedroom after sneaking into the palace, only to be released on bail after paying £50.
As for the “Boy Jones,” after his final arrest for loitering near the palace, he was exiled to Brazil and forced to work on a ship at sea for six years, during which he became addicted to alcohol and took up a life of petty crime. He eventually returned to Britain but was later deported to Australia, where he sold pies before managing to sneak back to London again. He ultimately returned to Australia, where he became a town crier in Perth. By the 1880s, seeking to escape his notorious reputation as the Queen’s underwear thief—even in Australia—he changed his name to Thomas Jones, which he kept until his death in 1893 when he drunkenly fell from a bridge.
Some have attributed the security breaches at Buckingham Palace during that time to the excessive bureaucracy surrounding the palace’s operations. Despite the presence of security, it was highly ineffective, and plans to secure Queen Victoria were insufficient. The palace walls were low and surrounded by trees, and often drunkards and vagrants were found sleeping in the garden behind the walls. The lack of security was compounded by the absence of the Queen’s personal guards, known as “Squad A,” on the night when the “Boy Jones” broke into the palace and stole her underwear.
