Couple arrested for indecent act on Windsor Castle lawn

London: It is being called the "royal romp."

A couple has been arrested for stripping off their clothes and having sex on the lawn of Windsor Castle, one of the country's most popular tourist attractions, said Ana Mika Madar, a spokesman for the Thames Valley police.

The arrest became top news in Britain when the bare facts of it leaked to the press. Madar said "more than one person" had called to alert police to the naked spectacle, which took place in full view of busy hotels, shops and sightseers who gathered to videotape this particular sight.

The couple were jailed overnight for "outraging public decency," Madar said.

Queen Elizabeth II was inside the castle at the time, but a palace spokesman had no comment about whether Her Majesty was aware of the activity on her lawn.

The Royal Protection Squad, which guards royal residences, was summoned by appalled onlookers when the couple blatantly ignored the "Keep off the Grass" sign.

The Sun newspaper ran a front page picture of the couple - fully clothed - and said the woman was an American internet expert and her partner was a British manager of a recruiting firm.

British news accounts suggested the couple had been drinking a lot of champagne and appeared not to realise how many people were watching, or exactly where they were.

"There were camera flashes going off and people videoing," one onlooker, Mark Robinson, told the Sun. "The officers told them to stop, and the sight of the uniforms seemed to snap them out of it."