The royal website has been hit by a cyber attack, a royal source has told Sky News.
The denial of service attack, or DDoS, is when an excess of traffic is directed to a website, overwhelming its server and disrupting its functioning.
While the royal website was online on Sunday lunchtime, it appeared to be running additional security checks on users before allowing them on the site.
Earlier on Sunday, the Royal.uk site showed an error message and would not let people access the website.
It is not known who was responsible for the attack, the source said, adding that it was not a hack and no access was gained to the website’s systems or content.
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Russian hacker group Killnet took responsibility for the attack, posting about it on their Telegram channel – but it has not been confirmed they were behind it.
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Earlier this year, Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden warned businesses that Russia-linked cyber attack groups want to “destroy” the UK.
The main aim of these groups was “to disrupt or destroy”, he said, and they were less likely to show the same level of restraint as national actors – making the situation “particularly concerning”.
