Princess’ incredible response to gun-toting kidnapper & murderer who shot at Queen… royals’ terrifying security scares
THE British Royal Family are surrounded by a ring of protection both when they are out and about, meeting the public, and in their private homes.
But, despite tight security, they have faced numerous terrifying, life-threatening situations over the years – from kidnapping plots to murder attempts.
Over the weekend, The Sun reported that there was a massive security breach at Windsor Castle when masked men scaled a 6ft fence at night to steal farm vehicles last month.
The incident is even more worrying as, at the time, Prince William, his wife Kate and their three young children were asleep at Adelaide Cottage, their residence in the castle’s grounds.
The robbers are said to have used a stolen truck to smash their way through the security gate. The two men then drove off in a pick-up and quad bike taken from a barn.
The Prince and Princess of Wales have been seen using the gate the thieves wrecked numerous times in the past.
After the latest security breach, we look at other incidents, including a man who aimed to kill the late Queen Elizabeth II with a crossbow and an extraordinary kidnap attempt that left three people fighting for their lives.
Princess stands her ground
In March 1974, Princess Anne experienced one of the most horrendous royal incidents as she and her then-husband, Captain Mark Phillips, returned to Buckingham Palace.
Their vehicle was ambushed on The Mall by Ian Ball, a mentally unstable man armed with a gun.
Ball, who planned to kidnap Anne and hold her for a £2m ransom, shot her chauffeur and her security officer, Jim Beaton. When a newspaper journalist tried to intervene, he was also shot.
As he lay wounded, Jim tried to shoot the attacker but missed. On his second attempt, his gun jammed.
The wannabe kidnapper then opened the door of the Princess Royal’s Rolls Royce and ordered her to get out.
Calmly, the then 23-year-old Princess famously replied: “Not bloody likely.” The attack was eventually foiled by Ronnie Russell, a boxer who happened to be passing by.
He punched Ball in the head. For their bravery, Jim and Russell were both awarded the George Cross, the highest civilian medal for courage.
Ronnie later said: “As a 6ft 4in, ex-heavyweight boxer, I decided I was well-placed to defuse the situation. I wanted to prevent this fellow from getting into any more trouble. So I stopped my car and walked towards him.”
After the incident, Ball apologised for the attack and pleaded guilty to attempted murder and kidnapping. He was diagnosed with schizophrenia and sentenced to 41 years in Broadmoor, a high-level security psychiatric hospital, where he remains.
Breaking into Queen’s room
In July 1982, an alarming security breach occurred when a man broke into Queen Elizabeth’s bedroom in Buckingham Palace as she slept.
Michael Fagan, who had mental health issues, scaled the palace walls, which had revolving spikes and barbed wire.
The intruder wandered through the palace for several minutes before reaching the Queen’s private quarters.
The monarch was woken up when Fagan disturbed a curtain in the room. According to initial reports, he sat on the edge of The Queen’s bed and had a lengthy conversation with her.
In a 2012 interview, Fagan said the Queen hurried out of the room to find help, but nobody came. Eventually, the Queen prompted a housemaid in the corridor to go get help.
Paul Whybrew, who had been walking the Queen’s corgis, arrived with two palace policemen on duty.
Since Fagan’s actions amounted to a civil offence rather than criminal, the police did not charge him with trespassing. Instead, they charged him with the theft of wine, which was later dropped.
Later that month, his mother said: “He thinks so much of the Queen. I can imagine him just wanting to simply talk and say hello and discuss his problems.”
Fagan spent three months in a psychiatric hospital and was later released.
Queen’s assassination attempts
As the longest-serving monarch in British history, Queen Elizabeth II had to weather many storms.
She even survived several assassination attempts, including one by 17-year-old Marcus Sarjeant in 1981.
The harrowing incident occurred as the Queen rode her horse om the Trooping the Colour ceremony. After joining the crowd cheering on Her Majesty, Sarjeant fired six blanks at her from his pistol.
Although the shots startled the horse, the Queen remained calm and was not harmed.
Lance Corporal Alec Galloway from the Scots Guards grabbed Sarjeant who was disarmed and restrained. It was later revealed that Sarjeant’s plan was “to be famous”.
When cops interrogated him, he said he was inspired by the assassination of John Lennon and the attempted murders of Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II.
In his diary, taken by cops during the investigation, Sarjeant wrote: “I am going to stun and mystify the whole world with nothing more than a gun – I will become the most famous teenager in the world.”
He was sentenced to five years in prison and released after serving three. While in prison, he wrote an apology letter to the Queen but never got a response.
Windsor Castle security incident
POLICE are investigating the burgulary that took place within the grounds of Windsor Castle.
Palace officials will be concerned about the latest breach of security as it marks the second time in three years the castle has come under attack.
In the latest incident, a pick-up truck and quad bike were taken just minutes away from Adelaide Cottage, where Prince William, Princess Kate and their three young children slept.
A statement by Thames Vallet Police to Newsweek said: “At around 11:45 p.m. on Sunday, October 13, we received a report of a burglary at a property on Crown Estate land near to the A308 in Windsor.
“Offenders entered a farm building and made off with a black Isuzu pick-up and a red quad bike. They then made off towards the Old Windsor/Datchet area.
“No arrests have been made at this stage and an investigation is ongoing.”
It has been reported that King Charles and Queen Camilla were not present during the burglary.
Targeted by ‘murderer’
Two months after the Trooping the Colour scare, the Queen once again found herself the target of an attempted assassination plot during her tour of New Zealand.
As she left her car to visit a museum, Christopher John Lewis fired at her through the window of a toilet cubicle.
Although he missed the monarch, a deafening bang was heard. Lewis, had hidden the gun in an old pair of jeans.
Eight days after the incident Lewis, who had been in trouble with the law on several occasions, was arrested and charged with public possession of a firearm and public discharging of a firearm. Remarkably, he escaped an attempted murder charge.
When his charges were read to him, he replied: “Only two charges, what? S**t… Had the bullet hit her, would it be treason?”
He served three years in prison and was held at a psychiatric prison for the last part of his sentence.
After his release, he was sent away to Great Barrier Island during another royal visit with authorities fearing he might attempt to kill again.
In 1997, he was charged with the murder of Tania Furlan, a young mother. As he awaited trial for that crime, he killed himself in Mount Eden Prison in Auckland.
Foiled Prince Charles attempt
During a royal tour of Australia in 1994, King Charles, the then Prince of Wales, was set to give a speech to mark Australia Day in Sydney.
As he rose to deliver his address, David Kang, 25 at the time, crossed a fence and ran onto the stage. He fired a shot from his pistol as he rushed towards the royal.
He was eventually tackled to the ground by 15 police officers as he fired a second shot at Charles.
The Prince was shielded by his bodyguard and led away to safety. Kang was eventually charged with multiple offences, including attacking an internationally protected person.
In court, he argued that he was suffering from depression and said he was protesting against the treatment of Cambodian refugees in Australia.
He had written to Prince Charles, the president of of the United States, and several public figures.
Although he faced up to 20 years in prison, he was only found guilty of threatening unlawful violence and sentenced to 500 hours of community service.
Speaking about the incident in 2005, he said: “What happened 11 years ago was an extremely traumatic experience and I have certainly moved on in my life and now I have become a barrister here in Sydney.”
He has also said on several occasions that he never intended to harm anyone.
Prince George targeted
In 2018, Husnain Rashid, a known ISIS supporter, encouraged attacks on Prince George through online posts.
He shared the location of then five-year-old Prince’s school, and asked social media users to harm him.
He was later arrested and hauled in front of Judge Andrew Lees where, after two weeks of evidence, he changed his plea and admitted to four terrorism charges.
Sentencing him to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years, the judge said: “The message was clear – you were providing the name and address of Prince George’s school, an image of Prince George’s school and the instruction or threat that Prince George and other members of the Royal Family should be viewed as potential targets.”
He added: “You provided what you regarded as inspiration for suitable targets for lone wolf terror attacks.
“Attacks in Western countries were in your eyes the only suitable acceptable alternative to jihad itself.”
During the investigation, it was revealed that he had also called for the 2018 World Cup in Russia to be hit with vehicles, weapons or bombs.
Other targets in his sinister plans included shopping malls, Jewish community centres, government buildings and bases used by the British Army.
Windsor crossbow incident
In 2021, Queen Elizabeth II was at the centre of yet another murder attempt.
Jaswant Singh Chail scaled the walls of the castle armed with a crossbow on Christmas Day with the intention of harming the monarch.
After getting into the castle grounds, he said: “I’m here to kill the Queen.” He even sent a video to his family and friends apologising for what he was about to do.
In the video, he said his motivation was revenge for the Amritsar massacre in 1919, where British troops opened fire on thousands of Indians and killed 1,500 people.
He had previously tried to get close to the Royal Family by joining the army but was unsuccessful.
In court, Chail, who is of Indian heritage, said he had been pushed to try to kill the Queen by an artificial intelligence girlfriend called Sarai.
Last year, he was jailed for nine years and had a further five years on an extended licence. He later expressed regrets for his actions and apologised after the Queen’s death in 2022.