Queen Elizabeth was the target of a plot. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) revealed details of the assassination attempt on Queen Elizabeth II during a visit the late monarch made to the United States in 1983.
Forty years ago, the life of the monarch with the longest reign in history was in danger. A set of 103 pages were posted on the FBI’s online records site, The Vault.
The files cover preparations for several trips the late queen made to the United States, including an official tour of the West Coast with her husband, Prince Philip, in 1983.
Plot to kill Queen Elizabeth II
The documents provide details of an armed plot a month before the Queen’s official visit and record a call from a man, a supporter of the Irish Republican Army, who claimed that his daughter had been killed in Northern Ireland.
It goes on to explain that this man further stated that he would attempt to harm Queen Elizabeth by either dropping something from the Golden Gate Bridge onto the royal yacht Britannia as it sailed underneath or by attempting to kill Queen Elizabeth when she visited Yosemite National Park.
The same document notes the Secret Service’s intention to close the walkways of the Golden Bridge, but makes no mention of any precautions that might have been taken in the national park, nor do the files reveal whether anyone was detained.
The files illustrate the FBI’s hypervigilance to possible threats to the visiting British monarch, collaboration with the U.S. Secret Service, and concern for the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and its sympathizers during royal visits.
