9. The ‘Trooping the Colour’ Intruder (1982)
In 1982, Michael Fagan, an unemployed Londoner, managed to breach Buckingham Palace’s security and entered Queen Elizabeth II’s bedroom. He climbed over the palace’s perimeter wall, scaled a drainpipe, and accessed the building through an unlocked window. Once inside, Fagan wandered the palace corridors, triggering alarms that were dismissed as faulty by security personnel. He eventually reached the Queen’s private apartments and disturbed her sleep by drawing back the curtains. The Queen, startled, used her bedside alarm to summon help, but it went unanswered due to a changeover in security shifts. She then called the palace switchboard, and after a delay, a footman arrived, leading Fagan into a pantry where he was offered a drink until police arrived to arrest him. The incident exposed significant lapses in palace security protocols. Fagan was not charged with trespassing, as it was a civil offense at the time, but was charged with theft for taking a bottle of wine during his first intrusion; however, the charges were dropped after he was committed for psychiatric evaluation. (biography.com).
