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Michael Fagan was an intruder who broke into Buckingham Palace and entered Queen Elizabeth II's bedchamber in the early hours of July 9, 1982. The unemployed father of four children managed to evade electronic alarms as well as both palace and police guards.^[1][2][3]

Break-ins

It was the 32-year-old's second successful attempt to break into Buckingham Palace. On his first attempt, he scaled a drainpipe, briefly startling a housemaid who called security, who subsequently decided not to act. Fagan entered through an unlocked window on the roof and spent the next half hour eating cheddar cheese and Chicken In a Biskit snack crackers and wandering around. He tripped several alarms, but they were faulty. He viewed the royal portraits and rested on the throne for a while. He then entered the postroom, where he drank half a bottle of California white wine before becoming tired and leaving.

On the second attempt, an alarm sensor detected him. A worker in the Palace thought the alarm to be false, and silenced the alarm, Fagan having gone unnoticed. En route to see the Queen, he broke 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 phoned twice for police but none came. He then asked for some cigarettes, which were brought by a maid. When the maid did not return to base for some time, footman Paul Whybrew (also called "Big Paul") appeared. 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.

Arrest

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 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."^[1]

Other incidents

Similar incidents of undetected entry to the palace had happened in the past, including several spectacular intrusions by "the boy Jones" in the first years of the reign of Queen Victoria.

References

External links

• About.com: Intruder Enters Queen Elizabeth's Bedroom