Glider pilots spring Royal surprise

The aircraft came down near the castle's rose garden

The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh saw two gliders make an unexpected landing in the grounds of Balmoral Castle.

The pilots walked away unhurt after being forced to come down near the castle's rose garden.

The aircraft were taking part in a competition at the nearby Deeside Gliding Club in the north east of Scotland.

The Queen saw the gliders land

The two single-seat gliders were competing in the annual UK Mountain Soaring Championships at the airstrip near Aboyne.

Club instructor Colin Wight said the incident was "no great shakes" as gliders have to land in fields all the time.

He said no damage had been done and that as far as he was aware there were no security implications.

The gliders were being flown by a man from Aberdeen and a woman from the Deeside area.

Club instructor Roy Ferguson Dalling said there were no suitable soaring conditions in the area at the time.

Landed safely

He added that the pilots had followed their training by finding suitable landing fields.

The gliders came down in a paddock near the castle's rose garden.

A spokeswoman for Buckingham Palace said the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh had watched the incident from the drawing room window.

We are not sure if they even knew it was Balmoral that they were flying into

Police spokesman

She said: "Both the Queen and Prince Philip were glad the gliders landed safely and that no one was injured.

"There was never any threat to security at all.

"The gliders, who we understand were taking part in a gliding competition at a nearby club, were helped by police in the castle grounds."

A police spokesman said the two pilots were collected by staff from the Deeside club.

He added: "The gliders got into trouble when they lost hot air needed to enable their crafts to fly.

"They had to land on a piece of flat ground and the grounds were the first place they saw.

"We are not sure if they even knew it was Balmoral that they were flying into."