Threats against the British Monarchy from IRA sympathisers highlighted in FBI documents.
Startling revelations have emerged from a cache of recently declassified FBI files, shedding light on a potential assassination plot targeting Queen Elizabeth II during her visit to California in 1983.
According to the documents, a man claiming to be the father of a victim killed by a rubber bullet in Northern Ireland made a distressing phone call, alerting authorities to the threat.
The classified file, which was made public today, states that the anonymous caller implicated a bar known to be frequented by sympathisers of the Irish Republican Army (IRA). While the identity of the caller remains undisclosed, the document suggests a connection between the potential plot and the IRA.
The queen, accompanied by her husband, Prince Philip, embarked on a visit to the west coast of the United States in February and March of 1983. Despite the revelation of this potential threat, the trip proceeded without incident. It is believed that heightened security measures may have thwarted any nefarious plans.
This incident harks back to a tragic event in 1979 when the IRA paramilitaries targeted Prince Philip’s uncle, Louis Mountbatten, in a bomb attack. The file recalls that four years later, the man who claimed responsibility for the threat against Queen Elizabeth declared two potential methods of attack.
The first involved dropping an object off the iconic Golden Gate Bridge onto the royal yacht Britannia during its passage beneath. The second plan centered around an attempt to harm the queen during her visit to Yosemite National Park.
Additional documents from 1989 reveal that while the FBI had no specific information about threats directed at Queen Elizabeth, the ever-present possibility of attacks from the Irish Republican Army against the British monarchy was acknowledged.
What you should know
Queen Elizabeth II, who passed away in September last year at the age of 96, had faced several assassination attempts.
In 1970, suspected IRA sympathisers attempted to derail her train west of Sydney, Australia. Another failed plot occurred in 1981 when the IRA targeted the queen during her visit to Shetland, off the coast of Scotland.
Later that year, a mentally disturbed teenager fired a single shot at her car during a visit to New Zealand; same place where protesters threw eggs at the Queen.
Furthermore, in the same year, during the Trooping the Colour parade in central London, another teenager fired six blanks in her direction.
