Queen Elizabeth II has been nearly killed by
one of own palace guards, The Independent
reports.
Apparently, one of the perks of being a member
of the hereditary UK monarchy is that you have
armed guards watching over you at all hours.
However, that apparently almost backfired for
the Queen when she decided to take a late-
night walk around the palace grounds and
came close to being shot.
An ex-guardsman who was speaking to The
Times, said from time to time her majesty is
said to struggle to sleep. During a spell of
insomnia, the 90-year-old will occasionally put
on her coat and go for a short stroll.
Late one night, he said he was patrolling
inside the perimeter of the Palace walls when
he spotted a figure in the darkness.
Thinking that he had caught a potentially
dangerous intruder, sneaking into the Royal
residence at 3am, he shouted: “Who’s that?”
But to his surprise, it was actually the Queen.
“Bloody hell, Your Majesty, I nearly shot you,”
he is reported to have said, on impulse.
Perhaps realising this wasn’t the tone to be
used when addressing the Queen, he told The
Times he expected a telling off. But the Queen
reportedly took responsibility for putting him in
such an awkward position.
“That’s quite all right,” she replied. “Next time
I’ll ring through beforehand so you don’t have
to shoot me.”
It is believed the encounter happened at the
Queen’s normal weekday residence,
Buckingham Palace.
In 2013, Prince Andrew was also mistaken for
an intruder and confronted by armed police as
he walked in the vast gardens.
Police said no weapons were drawn but issued
an apology to the prince, despite the palace
having been subject to several real security
breaches in recent years.
In August, a 22-year-old man was arrested
just after 4am after climbing over a security
fence. He was spotted by officers monitoring
CCTV.
In May, Denis Hennessy, 41, climbed over
barbed wire and roamed the palace grounds
for about 10 minutes while The Queen, Prince
Philip, and Prince Andrew were in residence.
When he was found by officers he repeatedly
asked them: “Is Ma’am in?”
Before that, in 2013, a man scaled the
perimeter fence and was found at around
10pm actually inside the building, in one of the
State Rooms. None of the royals were home at
the time.
The news of the near-shooting comes at a
time when the public is particularly tuned into
the Queen’s wellbeing. The elderly monarch
was not seen for a fortnight over the
Christmas period due to poor health.
