FBI reveals 1980s plot to kill Queen Elizabeth II

Queen Elizabeth II faced a imaginable assassination menace during a 1983 sojourn to the United States, recently released FBI documents show.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has released a cache of files relating to the precocious Queen's travels to the US, pursuing her decease past year.

They amusement however the FBI, which helped unafraid the monarch during her visits, disquieted astir IRA threats.

The assassination menace was made to a constabulary serviceman successful San Francisco.

According to the file, an serviceman who frequented an Irish pub successful San Francisco warned national agents astir a telephone from a antheral helium had met astatine the venue.

The serviceman said the antheral told him helium was seeking revenge for his girl who "had been killed successful Northern Ireland by a rubber bullet".

The menace came connected 4 February 1983 - astir a period up of Queen Elizabeth II and her hubby Prince Philip's sojourn to California.

"He was going to effort to harm Queen Elizabeth and would bash this either by dropping immoderate entity disconnected the Golden Gate Bridge onto the Royal Yacht Britannia erstwhile it sails underneath, oregon would effort to termination Queen Elizabeth erstwhile she visited Yosemite National Park," the papers says.

In effect to the threat, the Secret Service had planned to "close the walkways connected the Golden Gate Bridge arsenic the yacht nears". It is unclear what measures were taken astatine Yosemite, but the sojourn went ahead. No details of arrests were published by the FBI.

The 102-page cache was uploaded to the Vault, the FBI's accusation website, connected Monday, pursuing a Freedom of Information Act petition submitted by US media outlets.

Many of the precocious Queen's authorities visits to the US, including the 1983 sojourn to the West Coast, came during heightened tensions amid the Troubles successful Northern Ireland.

In 1976, the precocious Queen was successful New York City for America's Bicentennial celebrations.

The documents uncover however a summons was issued to a aviator for flying a tiny level implicit Battery Park with a motion that work "England, Get retired of Ireland."

The files amusement however the FBI remained vigilant to what it considered to beryllium the existent imaginable of threats to the precocious Queen.

Her 2nd relative Lord Mountbatten was killed successful an IRA bombing disconnected the seashore of County Sligo, Republic of Ireland, successful 1979.

Ahead of a idiosyncratic sojourn by the precocious Queen to Kentucky successful 1989, an interior FBI memo work "the anticipation of threats against the British Monarchy is ever-present from the Irish Republican Army (IRA)".

It continued that "Boston and New York are requested to stay alert for immoderate threats against Queen Elizabeth II connected the portion of IRA members and instantly furnish aforesaid to Louisville," successful Kentucky.

The precocious Queen, who owned racehorses, is known to person visited Kentucky respective times during her beingness to bask the state's equestrian highlights, including the Kentucky Derby.

On a authorities sojourn successful 1991, the precocious Queen was scheduled to spot a Baltimore Orioles shot crippled with President George H Bush.

The FBI warned the Secret Service that "Irish groups" were readying protests astatine the stadium and "an Irish radical had reserved a ample artifact of grandstand tickets" to the game.

The bureau told NBC News determination mightiness beryllium "additional records" that beryllium too the ones released this week, but it did not acceptable retired a timetable for their publication.