Michael Fagan was an intruder (31 years old at the time) who broke into Buckingham Palace and entered Queen Elizabeth II's bedchamber in the early hours of July 9 1982. The unemployed Irish father of four children managed to evade electronic alarms, palace and police guards. This actually had been his second successful attempt to break into Buckingham Palace. Upon his first attempt, he scaled a drainpipe, briefly startling a housemaid. She called security, but they decided not to act. He entered through an unlocked window on the roof and spent the next half hour wandering around. He tripped several alarms, but they were faulty. He viewed the royal portraits and rested on the throne for a while. He entered the Post Room, where he drank half a bottle of Californian white wine before becoming tired and left. On the second attempt, an alarm sensor actually had gone off upon detecting him. A worker in the Palace thought it had happened by accident, so he silenced the alarm, Fagan having gone unnoticed. On his way to see the Queen, he had broken a glass ashtray, lacerating his hand. The Queen woke when he disturbed a curtain after which he sat on the edge of her bed talking to her for about ten minutes, the Queen was only able to raise the alarm when he asked for a cigarette. She calmly called for a footman (named Paul Whybrew, also called "Big Paul") who allegedly held the intruder until police arrived. The incident happened as the armed police officer outside the royal bedroom came off duty before his replacement arrived. He had been out walking the Queen's dogs. The incident caused shock to all, as one unarmed man could manage not only to enter the Palace but even went as far as to see the Queen herself while she was asleep. However, the Queen's calm nature had become better noted. She was calm even upon seeing in her room a strange man with a bloodied hand, and remained calm while conversing with Fagan for about ten minutes. Since it was then a civil wrong rather than a criminal offence, Michael Fagan was not charged for trespassing in the Queen's bedroom. He was however charged with theft (of the half bottle of wine), but the charges were dropped when he was committed for psychiatric evaluation. In 1994 aggravated trespass or the act of trespass with the intent to disrupt or obstruct a lawful activity became a criminal offence (Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, section 68). Fagan's mother later said, "He thinks so much of the Queen. I can imagine him just wanting to simply talk and say hello and discuss his problems."
Fictional references
There is an oblique or fictional reference to this incident in the lyrics of the song The Queen is Dead (written by Morrissey and Marr) from the album of the same name released by The Smiths in 1986: "So I broke into the palace/With a sponge and a rusty spanner./She said 'ah I know you and you cannot sing'./I said 'that's nothing - you should hear me play piano.'" Another reference occurred in Tom Clancy's novel Rainbow Six, where former SAS soldier Eddie Price recalled his unit's shocked response to the security lapse.
Sources
- Wilson, Colin (2004). The World's Greatest True Crime. Angaston: Magpie Books. ISBN 1841198587. pp 447-450.
- Davidson, Spencer. "God Save the Queen, Fast", Time (July 26, 1982), page 33.
- Rogal, Kim and Ronald Henkoff. "Intruder at the Palace", Newsweek (July 26, 1982), pp. 38-39.
