In July 1982 one of the biggest security lapses during the reign of Queen Elizabeth II occurred. In early July intruded into Buckingham palace shimming up a drainpipe. He disturbed a housemaid and scarpered away before guards arrived. The guards disbelieved the maid’s report.
The man was painter and decorator Michael Fagan. Later he found an unlocked window and entered the palace. He wandered around, found some cheese and crackers to snack on and drank half a bottle of wine. He later told police he sat on the throne and looked at the many portraits hanging on the walls. As he wandered around he set off three alarms, but police dismissed them as being faulty.
On 9th July Fagan returned to the palace again, around 7am he scaled the four metre wall around the palace and entered the private apartment of the Queen. In an anteroom he broke a glass ashtray and cut his hand.
Fagan walked into the Queen’s bedroom with his bleeding hand, and when he disturbed a curtain the monarch awoke to the surprise of finding him in her bedroom.
While Queen Elizabeth II summoned staff to her chambers, she chatted with Fagan who had sat down on the end of her bed.
While the Queen phoned the palace switchboard and asked for police twice, none came. So she rang for a maid, and then sent the maid to get help. Soon after a footman and two police officers arrived and escorted Fagan away.
The incident showed that security around the monarch was lax, and systems were outdated and often faulty. It triggered a major review of security.
Soon afterwards on 17th July the Queen’s head bodyguard Commander Michael Trestrail was forced to resign, while his resignation was not over the incident with Fagan, it was triggered by it.
With all the press speculation about security at the palace, Michael Raunch, a sex worker who Commander Trestrail had an ongoing relationship with had tried to sell his story to a newspaper. He asked for £20,000 to tell his tale.
The newspaper declined to publish to the story, but reported the information to the palace, and Trestail offered his resignation ending his protection of the royal family who he had served since the mid 1960s.
The reason Trestail resigned was made public when it was announced in parliament by the Home Secretary William Whitelaw on 19th July. A move that publicly outed the respected officer.
A report later cleared Trestrail of any wrongdoing, saying the detective carried out his duties loyally and efficiently but led a secret double life. A report in the New York Times describes him “of indulging in homosexual activities, mostly with prostitutes.”
The report into Commader Trestail has now been made public, and it details that Rauch had previously tried to blackmail the officer. But Trestail’s response was a declaration that he would report the incident to police if Rauch proceeded.
With the report clearing him of any wrong doing, and finding that his sexuality had no baring on the incident where Fagan entered the palace, Trestail commented to the media saying ”Hopefully now it’s all over.”
At the time there were also reports that Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was eager to launch an in-depth investigation to see if any other homosexual people were working in the royal palaces, and while it’s never been confirmed, it’s widely believed that Queen Elizabeth deterred any further investigations knowing that there were many gay staff in her employ.
While the Metropolitan Police used to employ vetting practices to declare LGBTIQA+ people were unsuitable to be police officers, and those who did make it through were forced to keep their sexuality a secret.
Today LGBTIQA+ officers served openly. A Freedom of Information request in 2019 showed that there were now close to a thousand officers who identified as LGBTIQA+ out of 33,000 members of the force, and many of them hold senior roles.
Hero image: HM Queen Elizabeth II attending The Epsom Derby Meeting at Epsom Downs Racecourse in Surrey. 4th June 2011. Picture by: Simon Burchell / Shutterstock
