WASHINGTON (AFP) – A cache of newly released FBI files has revealed a possible plot to assassinate Queen Elizabeth II during a visit to California in 1983.
The threats follow a call from “a man in Northern Ireland who claims his daughter was killed by a rubber bullet,” according to the documents, which frequently mention supporters of the Irish Republican Army (IRA). There is also mention of a bar to visit.
The Queen and her husband, Prince Philip, visited the West Coast of the United States in February and March 1983, and the trip ended successfully.
Four years ago, in 1979, IRA militias opposing British rule in Northern Ireland killed Philip’s uncle Louis Mountbatten, India’s last colonial governor, in a terrorist bombing.
The files say the man claimed to have attempted to harm the Queen by “dropping some object onto the royal yacht Britannia sailing under the Golden Gate Bridge”.
Alternatively, they added, “they might try to kill Queen Elizabeth when she visits Yosemite National Park.”
A separate file in the document (dated 1989) noted that while the FBI was not aware of any specific threats against the Queen, “the possibility of threats against the British Royal Family by the Irish Republican Army always exists.” ing.
The Queen, who died last September at the age of 96, was reportedly the target of other assassination attempts before.
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In 1970, suspected IRA supporters tried unsuccessfully to derail her train west of Sydney, and in 1981 the IRA attempted to bomb her while she was visiting the Shetland Islands off the northeast coast of Scotland. bottom.
That same year, a mentally disturbed teenage boy opened fire on the Queen’s car during a visit to New Zealand.
Christopher Lewis fired a shot while touring the South Island city of Dunedin.
The failed attempt was covered up by police at the time and only came to light in 2018 when New Zealand’s Security Intelligence Service (SIS) released the documents at the request of the media.
In 1981, another teenager fired six blank shots at her during the King’s Birthday Parade, Trooping the Colour, in central London.
The Queen quickly calmed the frightened horse and kept running while she told the disarmed soldiers that she wanted to be famous.
The following year, in one of the most famous security breaches of her reign, Michael Fagan managed to break into the Queen’s bedroom and converse with her for ten minutes before she raised the alarm.
The unemployed decorator climbed the walls of Buckingham Palace over a few drinks and climbed a drainpipe into the Queen’s London residence.
He reportedly wandered into her bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed to talk to the distraught monarch before palace officials lured him out with the promise of a glass of whiskey.
