The Royalist - The Man Who Robbed The Prince of Wales

The Man Who Robbed The Prince of Wales

Written by Joanne Leyland

Sunday, 20 November 2005

Forget the private journal written by Prince Charles which we've all been reading about this week. There's a new diary in town which I bet you never believed you'd see.

We've had books by royal aides, we've had books by royal friends, we've even had books by royalty themselves! Now, though, comes the diary of the 'royal cat burglar'! Yes, you read that correctly. A 'royal burglar' has written a diary!

Do you recall the amazing story from February 1994 concerning a burglar who'd climbed up some scaffolding outside St. James's Palace (unbelievably, the burglar didn't realise where he was) and rifled through some of Prince Charles's private possessions?

The Prince was skiing in Switzerland at the time and was hugely upset to be told that many precious - and most certainly valuable - items belonging to him had been stolen? And believe me, these were no everyday items. Not for Charles the Swarovski crystals which many ordinary people can now afford to own, for amongst the sixty five thousands pounds worth of items stolen were gold watches and tie pins, silver pill boxes and cufflinks.

Now, thanks to the UK Sunday Telegraph, we can read for ourselves what the audacious cat burglar, Renato Rinino, then aged 32, wrote following the event which, for all the wrong reasons, catapulted him onto TV screens and newspaper front pages around the world:

"I saw an enormous, old, red building. I was so close up to it that I had to tip my head back to look," Rinino wrote. "I didn't know exactly where I was and I didn't really care. It wasn't quite clear but something was making me think I had to get inside. I climbed up to the second floor, opened a window and put my first foot inside. There was an overwhelming smell of old things. Definitely rich people here, I thought. I waited a minute after opening the window - that's how many seconds you get before most alarms go off. Seeing as nothing happened I put the other foot inside and shut the window quickly.

I hadn't even half opened it when I saw jewellery boxes, all different shapes and sizes and colours. Each one had a strange, lavish crest with an enormous crown. When I opened the boxes, I realised that the moment I had been waiting for for years had arrived. When I pointed my torch up close at the jewels, with complete darkness all around, they sparkled all the more.

I had almost guessed by now where I was. And then I saw an enormous painting - big like everything else in that house - a painting of the Royal Family, all of them together. That's how I realised where I was. Me! Just a poxy little thief."

Despite his being the "poxy thief" hunted the world over by some of the most powerful police forces around - after all, it's not everyday the future King is robbed - it took police three more years to catch up with Rinino. Amazingly, the burglar had managed to flee Britain for his homeland, the royal jewels taped to his skin.

The royal treasures were finally recovered and returned to a grateful Prince Charles. And Rinino? He admitted the robbery and was sent to prison for three years but before long he was purely a name from the past as, in 2003, he was shot and killed by a husband who believed the Italian robber was having an illicit affair with his wife.

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