Up the railings and into the Queen’s bedroom

Geoff Wijesinghe

It was early morning on June 1981, when her Royal Highness, Britains Queen Elizabeth II woke up from her slumber. She was seated on her bed according to the newspapers; one of them being the Sun which has the largest circulation (quoting the intruder's wife) When 33 year old Michael Fagan an out of work decorator from North London, stepped into her bedroom, carrying a piece of broken glass from an ash tray which he had smashed and bleeding from a right thumb.

The injury had been caused when he had broken the ash tray with which he allegedly intended to commit suicide in front of the Queen of whom he was evidently an ardent and devoted admirer, by slashing his wrists. The Queen kept her nerve and began chatting to the intruder who was in a terrible state of emotion, while she managed to press the bell for her chamber maid who was told by her Royal Highness to remove the man.

Security network

A Scotland Yard inquiry revealed that the Buckingham Palace security officials were totally inefficient and that they were deep in the land of nod early that morning not to have detected the intruder. He had reached the railing in close proximity to the 'Ambassadors entrance' at 6.45 a.m. He was seen by a policeman , but in the first of a series of lapses ignored the warning. Fagan then took off his socks and shoes. First he entered a ground floor window of the stamp room where the exclusive Royal stamp collection is displayed.

The central operations room electronic warning was sounded but ignored by the security staff.

Fagan successfully went through many warning devices, which had been incorrectly positioned. A member of the palace staff had seen Fagan, but thought he was harmless.

High drama

The intruder now in a thoroughly agitated state of mind had smashed an ash tray he found on the corridor, picked up a shard of glass and cut his thumb intending to slash his wrists in front of his dearly beloved Queen, after having proved how easy it was to gain access to her bedroom, despite the tight ultra modern security network. The royal chambermaid had come only after several attempts to contact her, by the Queen, had failed.

The Queen yet very calm and collected asked the chambermaid to take the intruder away and give him a cigarette. He was taken to the pantry opposite the bedroom. Meanwhile the footman had arrived on his rounds with the royal corgis; a dog of short legged breed with a fox like head, of Welsh origin. The Queen appraised the footman of the situation. He went into the pantry and gave the now thoroughly excited man a cigarette and a whisky and soda in order to calm him down.

Then Fagan tried to make a break for it and dashed down the Buckingham Palace corridors but his path was blocked by the sturdy footman. In a grand finale to the high drama the chambermaid managed to dash to the Police lodge and summoned a constable who arrested Fagan. In a statement Fagan said he had the deepest respect for the Queen, that he knew the Queen likes to help people and hence wanted to seek her help. Apologizing he said he admired the Queen to eternity and meant no embarrassment to her. It was signed 'humbly Michael'.

(Since he could not under British law, be charged for intruding into the Royal bedroom, he was charged for stealing wine and was acquitted after trial but was ordered to be sent to a high security mental hospital)