When Elizabeth II Found a Stranger in Her Bed
Buckingham Palace’s security has often been lax. A laxity that dated as far back – at least – to the reign of Queen Victoria, whom many a stalker got dangerously close to. The fact that they had done so, without hindrance, was a black eye for the palace’s security. A century and a half later, palace security got another – and even worse – black eye when yet another stalker got close to another queen. Early on July 9th, 1982, Queen Elizabeth II was awoken by some unusual noises in her bedroom. When she opened her eyes, there was a strange man seated at the edge of her bed. Blood seeped out of a cut in one of his hands, and he held a shard of broken glass in another.
When Her Majesty talked to him, she realized that he was a disturbed individual. So she phoned the palace switchboard and asked that police be sent over, but none arrived. She phoned again, but again, no help was sent. So Queen Elizabeth eventually left the bedroom, and personally summoned the police, who eventually came in and arrested the intruder. The man, Michael Fagan, had been able to simply walk into the queen’s bedroom. Apparently, the armed police officer responsible for guarding her door had left his post before his replacement had arrived.