Woman, 62, denies threatening to blow up Buckingham Palace in a bomb hoax on the day Princess Anne hosted a garden party

A woman has denied threatening to blow up Buckingham Palace in a bomb hoax as Princess Anne hosted a garden party while the King underwent treatment.

Diane Durham, 62, admitted that she posted a message on X suggesting a thing liable to explode was travelling to the palace on a train.

But she pleaded not guilty to the charge of communicating false information to the Metropolitan Police as there were lots of things going on at the time.

Ms Durham told the court the post had said the trains passengers would be safe. 

The incident is said to have taken place on May 15 when King Charles was not in the palace as he was continuing his recovery from cancer elsewhere.

Princess Anne, 74, and her husband Sir Tim Laurence, 69, were on the grounds hosting a party for a veterans charity that day.

Diane Durham at Leeds Magistrates Court today charged with threatening to blow up Buckingham Palace

Diane Durham, 62, is said to have posted a message on X threatening to blow up the palace

Durham was arrested at her £200,000 terraced home in Pudsey, on the outskirts of Leeds, after the Met informed West Yorkshire Police of the communications.

Prosecutor Charles MacRae told the court previously: I have been provided with a copy of the X post, but having spoken to Mrs Durham, she says messages exist that I am not in possession of.

Durham is charged with a bomb hoax offence under the 1977 Criminal Law Act.

It is alleged she communicated to the Metropolitan Police information which you knew or believed to be false, with the intention of inducing that person a false belief that a thing liable to explode or ignite was present in Buckingham Palace.

District judge Tim Capstick said: I cannot make an order forcing Mrs Durham to provide these posts.

Princess Anne, 74, (pictured September 30) and her husband Sir Tim Laurence, 69, were on the grounds hosting a party for a veterans charity that day

Durham is charged with a bomb hoax offence under the 1977 Criminal Law Act

But if it puts the posts into some sort of context, it is in her interests to do so.

She will appear at Leeds Crown Court on November 4. If found guilty at trial, she faces up to two years in prison.

Judge Capstick said: All the court will be concerned with is if the prosecution bringing the case against you can prove the case.

The court will not be used as a platform for you to air your views, whatever they may be.