THE QUEEN’S INTRUDER

In 1982, Michael Fagan famously managed to break into Buckingham Palace – twice!

During his first attempt the then 33-year-old Londoner climbed up a drainpipe and into a royal housemaid’s bedroom. She ran to get help but by the time she returned, Fagan had moved to another part of the palace. He later described spending half an hour wandering around, sitting on different thrones and even drinking half a bottle of wine before leaving.

The second break-in occurred a month later. This time, after scaling the four-metre palace wall, Fagan entered the Queen’s bedroom. Different versions of what happened next have been reported – and dramatised on The Crown

– but in a 2012 interview Fagan denied sitting at the end of her Majesty’s bed and talking to her.

Instead, he claimed that as soon as the Queen became aware of his presence, she called security on the phone and when no-one answered, ran off to get help. A footman then escorted Fagan from the room and soon after he was arrested.

Although he wasn’t jailed for the trespass, Fagan did spend time in a psychiatric hospital and was later jailed for four years for conspiring to supply heroin.