THE Mayor of Redditch saw some unexpected crown jewels when he attended the Queen's Garden Party at Buckingham Palace.

Kieth Boyd-Carpenter and his wife Val watched as a gutsy 17 year old streaked across the lawns in front of an 8,000-strong crowd last Tuesday.

The mayor was just feet away from the whole scene.

"At the end of it, he looked very embarrassed," said Mr Boyd-Carpenter.

"Everybody made the same comment - 'what a stupid idiot' - but it didn't spoil our day," he added.

He watched on as roof snipers at the palace trained their guns on the youngster.

The mayor said: "We heard all this commotion and looked up and there he was heading for the Queen.

"I was expecting a gunshot any minute - he could have had a gun or knife or anything but I noticed the snipers on the roof focused on him."

Mr Boyd-Carpenter said the teenager flashed his backside and carried on running until a Beefeater wrestled him to the ground.

"Apparently, the lad did it for a bet and I was surprised at how far he got - it was such a distance," he added.

The civic dignitaries were in the company of most of the royal family, including the Queen, Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Charles, Princess Anne and the Earl and Countess of Wessex.

"We enjoyed the whole day immensely," said the mayor.