The Crown: Police arrest Michael Fagan after Palace break in
The Real Crown: Inside the House of Windsor will take a look at the real behind-the-scenes story of the lives, loves, scandals, trials and tribulations of the Royal Family. The series looks at a first-hand account from Michael Fagan who managed to break into Buckingham Palace twice, explaining how he managed to do so.
In July 1982 Michael managed to jump the fences of Buckingham Palace and scaled his way into the palace after a night of drinking.
He spent his time in the palace wandering through, including twice triggering the alarm systems while he perused King George V’s stamp collection.
Discussing the historical events, he recalled: “I walked out of the house, and just started walking. It started off at Highbury, and I started to walk down towards the Angel.
“Through Oxford Street, but not thinking of the palace at all. It was like I had music going in my head, pop songs at the time.
“I just kept walking and then arrived at the palace. I was over the fence in no time. See this is all new, I got on the roof here.
“Then I walked across and climbed up. They have got camera’s up there now and then somehow climbed up there because my sandals were found on the roof.
“So I got into the window, I got tar on my hands from climbing up the drain pipe, I wiped them on the curtains.
“Now these curtains were like sixteen feet high, and these drapes must have cost, I don’t know what.
“So I started to wipe my hands on them and they started to crumble, a bit embarrassing you know so I thought I’d stop doing that.
“But I carried on walking, past Diana’s room, past Charles’ private secretary’s office and I go in there and all I can see is like a bottle of wine up there, Californian wine.
“And I hadn’t had a drink since I got in there. So anyway, I took the wine and popped the cork in, and drank it.”
“I wasn’t thinking about getting caught, all I am thinking is if someone comes in I want to talk to Liz,” he chuckled.
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Michael continued: “I just wanted to talk to the Queen. Then I came to the throne room and thought I would sit on the throne.
“So I sat on the ones next to it and it was like the three bears, and I haven’t seen a soul. Five minutes later I am walking up the Mall.
“And I couldn’t believe that I had been in the palace. It didn’t seem normal. Someone should have challenged me.
“It was naughty that no one there challenged me, and that is the reason I went back the second time.”
Despite not being charged for trespassing the first time he broke into the palace, however, was later charged with stealing a bottle of Prince Charles’s wine from among a collection of gifts sent by the public in anticipation of the birth of Prince William.
After consuming about half of the bottle, he told the court, he got tired of waiting and decided to leave. The jury deliberated on the case for 14 minutes before acquitting Fagan.
During an interrogation about the second break-in, he revealed his role in an unrelated car theft, for which he was charged and ultimately convicted in October 1982.
He was committed to a mental hospital at sentencing, but by the following January, a medical tribunal at the hospital determined that he no longer needed to be detained, according to the New York Times.
The Real Crown: Inside the House of Windsor is available to stream exclusively on ITVX from Thursday 20 April.
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