7 Times Queen Elizabeth II Nearly Died

From surviving the World War II to nearly being shot at by her own guardsman, Queen Elizabeth II has definitely had her share of near-death experiences. The 93-year-old monarch, whose real name is Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor, has had at least seven close brushes with death in her lifetime.

1939 To 1945: World War II

During World War II, the Queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms — still Princess Elizabeth at the time — resided at Buckingham Palace. With the threat of German domination looming, the London residence and administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom was bombed at least three times and was subjected to nine direct hits. Luckily, Queen Elizabeth II, together with her family, was able to escape to Windsor Castle for the remainder of the war.

Sometime Between 1970 And 1971: Australia

At some point during these years, Queen Elizabeth II visited Australia during its festive season. Reportedly, she was the subject of an assassination attempt that involved a large log having been rolled onto the train tracks — set out to derail the train she was on. However, the train was moving at a rather slow speed, resulting in an unsuccessful attempt. The Australian government purportedly had such news kept on the down low.

June 13, 1981: Trooping The Color Ceremony

Trooping the Color, which marks the official birthday of the British Sovereign for over 260 years, saw one of Queen Elizabeth II’s near-death experiences. This took place when a 17-year-old obsessed with the Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II assassination attempts fired six blank shots at the Queen.

Her Majesty was riding on her 19-year-old horse, Burmese, for the parade at The Mall. Marcus Sarjeant missed. “I wanted to be famous. I wanted to be a somebody,” he said when he was pulled in by the police.

October 14, 1981: New Zealand

In the same year, one more assassination attempt involving another 17-year-old made headlines. The Christopher John Lewis incident “may be the closest anyone has ever come to assassinating Queen Elizabeth II,” reads an excerpt from an article. The police reportedly interviewed Lewis eight times, with the teenager explaining that a certain “The Snowman” — an unknown Englishman — instructed him to shoot the Queen.

July 9, 1982: Queen’s Bedroom

Known as one of the twentieth-century’s worst royal security breaches, Michael Fagan broke into the Palace the second time around, found Her Majesty’s bedroom and perched upon her bed. Then 33-year-old Fagan revealed that Queen Elizabeth II ran and called for security, but none had arrived. Per his account, he was able to ask for cigarettes from a maid before the duty footman and two policemen arrived.

1994: Death By Cricket Ball

Lucy Stafford, a party guest of the Queen, shared a story that the 93-year-old monarch told her. In 1994, a cricket ball came speeding toward the Queen, which fortunately was caught by one of her bodyguards. “She said she would have been dead if it hadn’t been caught,” said Stafford.

Reported on Jan. 4, 2017: Palace Gardens

One of the Queen’s pastimes when struggling to sleep is to take late-night walks. Unfortunately, this caused Her Majesty her most recent near-death experience. While strolling the Palace gardens at around 3 a.m., a guard reportedly exclaimed in surprise, saying that he almost shot the monarch.

“That’s quite all right,” the Queen allegedly replied. “Next time I’ll ring through beforehand so you don’t have to shoot me,” she stated.