The masked men scaled a 20-foot fence to sneak onto the grounds of Windsor Castle as the Prince and Princess of Wales slept in their cottage just a stone’s throw away.

The two men allegedly used a stolen truck to break through a security gate.

They stole farm vehicles and made off in a pickup truck and quad bike they took from a barn at Shaw Farm, sources said.

Just five minutes away, William and Kate and their children George, 11, Charlotte, nine, and Louis, six, are believed to have been sleeping peacefully.

The now destroyed gate is the nearest exit to Adelaide Cottage and the family is often seen using it to come and go.

It comes after armed officers were removed from public entrances to Windsor Castle.

But officers are believed to still be present, patrolling the grounds of the estate.

A source said the masked thieves must have been “looking at Windsor Castle for a while”.

Masked men scaled 6ft fences to sneak onto Windsor Castle estate as Prince and Princess of Wales slept nearby

William and Kate and their children George, 11, Charlotte, nine, and Louis, six, are believed to have been sleeping

It comes after armed officers were removed from public entrances to Windsor Castle

They said Sun.: “There are alarms at Windsor Castle, but the first time anyone knew there had been a break-in was when they crashed through the security barrier at the Shaw Farm Gate exit.

“It was a Sunday evening in a school week, so the young princess and the princess would have been tucked up in bed at Adelaide Cottage, just around the corner but still on the grounds.

The King was in Scotland and Camilla was said to be in India at the time of the raid.

A Thames Valley Police spokesman said: “At around 11.45pm on Sunday 13 October we received a report of a burglary at a property on the Crown Estate, off the A308 in Windsor.

“The offenders entered a farm building and left in a black Isuzu pick-up and a red quad. They then left for the Old Windsor/Datchet area.

“No arrests have been made at this stage and an investigation is ongoing.”

The Wales family moved from Kensington Palace to Adelaide Cottage, located in Windsor Great Park, in the summer of 2022.

Their preference was for a residence that did not require renovation or additional security arrangements (in contrast, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle spent £2.6m renovating nearby Frogmore Cottage).

The Wales family moved from Kensington Palace to Adelaide Cottage in Windsor Great Park in the summer of 2022

Armed police officers stand guard at Henry VIII Gate at Windsor Castle

Additional security measures, including a 10-foot ring of steel fencing, surround the town gate entrance to Windsor Castle, pictured last year

Adelaide Cottage on the Windsor Estate, where the Wales family lives

Additionally, four bedrooms were deemed sufficient as there are no live-in staff. Instead, advisors commute to the property as their services are needed.

Set in the heart of the Crown Estate’s 655-acre private royal park, Adelaide Cottage was built in 1831 as a retreat for William IV’s wife, Queen Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen.

It was also known to be Queen Victoria’s favorite home as she frequently enjoyed having breakfast there.

However, the most famous former resident has to be the former lover of the late Princess Margaret, Group Captain Peter Townsend, whose affair with the Queen’s sister caused a national scandal.

The cottage underwent major renovations in 2015, which meant Prince William and Kate didn’t need to spend millions remodeling the home.

Adelaide Cottage still boasts original features including a Greco-Egyptian marble fireplace and a master bedroom with a golden dolphin shower ceiling and rope trim reused from the royal yacht Royal George.

The procession to Windsor Castle during the late Queen’s funeral started from the gate of Shaw Farm, which has since been replaced after it was cut down in the raid.

Other Windsor Castle security scares include one that took place on Christmas Day 2021, when an intruder with a crossbow climbed a fence and claimed he wanted to kill the Queen.

Jaswant Singh Chail, 23, was sentenced to nine years in prison for treason.

MailOnline has contacted Kensington Palace for comment.