by Nicolas Asfouri
LONDON, Sept 13 (AFP) - An activist dressed as Batman and campaigning for fathers' rights evaded guards at Buckingham Palace Monday to climb up to the main balcony of Queen Elizabeth's residence, in the latest security scare for the royal family.
Jason Hatch, 33, used a ladder to climb up to a ledge next to the main balcony, where the queen and her family normally wave to wellwishers on royal occasions, and unfurled a banner saying: "Super Dads of Fathers 4 Justice. Fighting for your right to your kids."
Queen Elizabeth II, like much of the royal family, was on holiday at Balmoral Castle, her residence in the Scottish Highlands, Buckingham Palace said. "We've got no members of the royal family in residence," a palace spokesman said.
An accomplice, Dave Pyke, dressed as Batman's comic sidekick Robin climbed the ladder with Hatch at about 1:45 pm (1245 GMT), and later said it was "unbelievably easy" for the pair to get into the palace grounds.
"We used a ladder to get on to the roof of a palace building which was just 10 yards (10 metres, 35 feet) from the road," he said. "The only security was a four-foot fence."
Pyke, 48, agreed to come down when police shooters on top of the building threatened to open fire if he continued climbing. And men on the balcony were seen negotiating with Hatch, who is campaigning for access to his two children aged five and six.
The incident will leave security chiefs at Buckingham Palace red-faced, coming just four months after a report slammed palace policing and recommended better protection.
Royal security had supposedly beefed up since a series of gaffes last year.
An undercover reporter last year gained work as a Buckingham Palace servant in the run-up to a visit by US President George W. Bush and only months after a comedian gatecrashed Prince William's 21st birthday party at Windsor Castle.
"This is another embarrassing breakdown in security at the palace," said opposition Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Mark Oaten said.
"After so many episodes like this, there must be serious questions asked over the ability of our authorities to protect the royal family," he said.
Prime Minister Tony Blair's official spokesman said the demonstration was regrettable. "We don't believe that events like this actually help address what is the complexity of the problem," the spokesman told journalists.
Matt O'Connor, who set up Fathers 4 Justice, said Hatch was prepared to go to prison for the cause.
"He has not seen his children pretty much since they were born," O'Connor said. "He has been to court and got court orders but they have not been enforced."
"He's been back time and time again and like a lot of guys he had just had enough."
Fathers 4 Justice, founded in 2002, has become more vocal and daring in its protests lately.
One of its members was charged Sunday with creating a public nuisance after he climbed the London Eye, the jumbo ferris wheel on the banks on the River Thames, dressed as Spider Man.
David Chick spent more than 18 hours Saturday on the 137 metre (450 foot) tourist attraction, dressed as the comic book hero, unfurling a banner declaring "In the name of the father".
He says he is being denied access to his child by his former partner, despite a court order allowing him two hours each fortnight.
In May a member of Fathers 4 Justice, which supports Chick's cause, was arrested and fined for hurling a condom full of purple flour at Blair in parliament.