Queen intruder
However, the window being open, a lack of working alarms, and the drainpipe being easy to climb up also contributed, the report said. The conclusion was that it was a series of failures by the police that enabled Fagan to get into the palace. The report said: “Before police officers arrived, Her Majesty attracted the attention of the maid, and together they ushered Fagan into a nearby pantry on the pretext of supplying him with a cigarette.”
She then called the police lodge and asked for an officer, but six minutes later, had to call again because no one arrived. Michael Fagan, the intruder who gained access to the bedroom of Queen Elizabeth II in Buckingham Palace pictured in 1985. The report explains that even though the Queen rang the alarm, it didn’t attract anyone’s attention because the night duty officer had finished, the maid was cleaning another room and the footman was walking the dogs. He got into the Queen’s room at about 7.15am and woke her when he moved her curtains. He was seen by one member of staff, however, she didn’t think his behaviour was suspicious, so no alarm was raised. He walked around the palace for 15 minutes. She was like Trump.” What was the official account of the break-in?Īccording to the police report, which was printed in the New York Times in 1982, Fagan was seen on the railings of the palace at 6.45am on 9 July, 1982.Īfter failing to get into the palace one way, he climbed up the drainpipe and got into the palace via a window which had been left open. He admits he shared anti-Thatcher sentiment, telling the Telegraph: “A lot of people thought like that. He does say he was frustrated by joblessness and the break-up of his marriage. The character of Fagan tells the Queen the prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, is ruining the country.īut Fagan said he doesn’t have an explanation for his break-in, even decades later. The MP tells Fagan he might like to take his problems up with the Queen. The Crown suggests Fagan got the idea after going to see his MP, and finding him unsympathetic to his struggles. Speaking in 2012, he also claimed he had broken into the palace a month earlier, and had urinated “on the corgi food” and drunk wine which he found in Prince Charles’s room. I wanted to speak to her but I never planned to end up in her bedroom.”įagan also denied reports that he had intended to cut himself in front of the Queen, saying the reason he smashed an ashtray and carried a piece with him was to cut back through some pigeon netting on his way out of the palace. He added: “I knew she liked helping people and thought she might help me. Read more: 'The Crown' actress Emma Corrin says she 'feels sorry' for the Royal Family Paul Whybrew, left, who spoke to Fagan when he got into the palace. He also gave a conflicting report about whether the Queen had a conversation with him while she waited for security, saying: “Nah! She went past me and ran out of the room her little bare feet running across the floor.”įagan, now 70, said he was looked after by an unarmed footman until the police came.
He described the Queen’s reaction upon seeing him in her room: “Then she speaks and it's like the finest glass you can imagine breaking: 'Wawrt are you doing here?!' “I was scareder than I'd ever been in my life,” he said. The encounter - in Fagan’s own wordsįagan has spoken about the night a few times over the years, including in a 2012 interview in which he recounted the tale of the break-in in his own words. Yahoo UK looks at what actually happened that night. He’s discovered when a member of staff brings in the Queen’s morning cup of tea, and she asks her to summon the police officer. The Crown shows Fagan and the Queen speaking for some time, suggesting that Fagan wanted to tell her what was really going on in the UK. But he’d actually been able to get into the palace on another occasion, while the Queen was in Windsor Castle.
The episode involving Fagan opens with the news bulletins after he broke in and managed to speak to the Queen. Now, the infamous break-in at Buckingham Palace is coming to the small screen, as Netflix recreates the moment Michael Fagan got into the Queen’s bedroom in 1982.įagan is to be played by Tom Brooke, best known for his role as the angel Fiore in Amazon’s Preacher, and also known to Sherlock fans as Bill Wiggins. It was one of the worst royal security breaches of the 20th century, and even led to the Home Secretary offering his resignation.