Queen Elizabeth II in 1982. Photo / Desiree Hughes
Queen Elizabeth II in 1982. Photo / Desiree Hughes
The man who broke into the Queen's bedroom in the British Royal Family's most infamous security breach has said he does not regret it.
The incident is dramatised in the new series of The Crown, revisiting a story that made headlines around the world in 1982.
Michael Fagan, an out-of-work painter and decorator, climbed the railings at Buckingham Palace, shinned up a drainpipe, got in through an open window and wandered the corridors, eventually finding himself face-to-face with the monarch.
Speaking ahead of the drama's release, Fagan said: "There's plenty of people who've knelt before the Queen but there's not many who've sat on her bed and had a chat, is there?"
The Telegraph tracked down Fagan, who is now 70 and recovering from a recent heart attack and the after-effects of Covid-19, to a tower block in Islington, north London.
Peter Morgan, the Netflix writer, did not approach him to contribute to the programme. The screen conversation between Fagan (played by Tom Brooke) and the Queen (Olivia Colman) is a work of fiction.
In fact, despite reports at the time that Fagan engaged the monarch in a 10-minute chat, very few words were actually exchanged.
Michael Fagan in 1985. Photo / R. Brigden / Hulton Archive
"I pulled back the curtain and she said, 'What are you doing here?'" Her tone, he said, was not as clipped as he had expected. "She talks like me and you, normal. Well, I sound a bit common so maybe not like that. But very normal."
The Queen did not, as the show cheekily suggests, address Fagan with her favoured line in small talk: "Have you come far?"
In reality, after a short moment in which Fagan sat on the bed, she told him, "I'll be back in a minute," and darted out of the room. "She walked out on her little legs. Then a footman comes in and goes, 'You look like you need a drink, mate.'"
The footman, Paul Whybrew, took Fagan down the corridor. "He pours me a whisky out of the pantry. Then the policemen came and they were all over the place - they hadn't arrested anyone for years, they were on a retirement posting, on guard duty. One of them was fumbling around for his notebook."
Until the Queen sat up and spoke, Fagan had not realised it was her bedroom as he did not think it grand enough to belong to a monarch. "She never had a four-poster bed. And she's got a little thing where she does her teas and coffees."
The Netflix drama suggests that Fagan launched a diatribe about Baroness Thatcher, telling the Queen that the Prime Minister had ruined the country. In reality, he said, that was not the case and Morgan had "used a lot of artistic licence"; he still has no explanation for why he broke in, although he was frustrated by joblessness and the break-up of his marriage.
Michael Fagan this year. Photo / Will Wintercross
But he conceded that he did share the anti-Thatcher sentiment. "A lot of people thought like that. She did a lot of damage to children. She was like Trump," he said.
Fagan was arrested but not charged with trespass, as it was then a civil offence. Incredibly, it was the second time he had broken into the palace - on the first, he was disturbed by a maid and fled. He was latterly charged with stealing a bottle of wine during that first intrusion, but was acquitted.
He was, however, sent to a psychiatric hospital for three months before returning home. In 1997, he was jailed for four years for heroin offences. Now he lives with his partner of 17 years, Rhian, and has three great-grandchildren.
The Crown will bring him renewed attention but he plans to take it in his stride. He has always been well-known character in his local area, he said, and enjoys his small place in royal history. "I've met children downstairs who say, 'We were learning about you in our lessons.' Kids get taught about me at school, I swear," he said.
