On this day 1982: A 23-year-old man named Michael Fagan successfully broke into Buckingham Palace and made his way into Queen Elizabeth’s bedroom in one of the worst royal security breaches of the 20th century.
Born in Clerkenwell, London on August 8, 1948, Michael Fagan left his dad (whom he claimed was violent) at 18 to become a construction worker. He started off as a decorator and painter but later acquired skill in steelworks to become a champion safe breaker.
As the story goes, Fagan was watching tv in his local Irish pub with friends when it was announced that the Queen will be staying at Buckingham Palace over the weekend. Fagan took a wager of five pounds each that he could get into the Queen’s bedroom that night.
Fagan then proceeded to the palace, scaled the 20-foot wall and climbed through a drainpipe to a balcony. An alarm sensor detected his movements inside the palace but it was silenced by security officials who thought it was faulty. He then entered the Queen’s bedroom.
The Queen was woken by his movements and accounts had it that Fagan both conversed for minutes before security arrived. Parts of the media even suggested that the Queen had used her conversational skills as a defensive tactic to engage him till help arrived.
However, Fagan who said that it was actually the second time he broke into the Palace dismissed the accounts in a 2012 interview saying that “She (The Queen) went past me and ran out of the room; her little bare feet running across the floor”.
A chambermaid and a footman took him to the pantry and poured him a glass of the Famous Grouse before he was arrested. He was initially charged with theft but later committed to a psychiatric home and was released after 6 months.
However, Fagan who said that it was actually the second time he broke into the Palace dismissed the accounts in a 2012 interview saying that “She (The Queen) went past me and ran out of the room; her little bare feet running across the floor”.
