He braved the November cold and gawking crowds to straddle the monument to Prince George, a 19th century military chief and one-time Duke of Cambridge, adopting various poses including balancing precariously on the prince´s head.[break]
Police were called to the statue on Whitehall, the street on which many government offices including Cameron´s Downing Street residence are located, after reports that a man had climbed up and might have had a knife.
From midday to about 3pm, police cordoned off the area as they tried to persuade him to come down. Finally they got him into a police van, where he was detained under the Mental Health Act, police said.
An unidentified man stands naked on top of the statue of Prince George, Duke of Cambridge outside the Ministry of Defence building in Whitehall in central London on November 23, 2012. The man, who brought Whitehall to a standstill for almost two hours, stood naked on the statue and struck various poses before being eventually talked down. (AFP)
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