Attack
On 13 June 1981, Sarjeant joined the crowds for Trooping the Colour, finding a spot near the junction between The Mall and Horseguards Avenue. When the Queen came past riding her 19-year-old horse Burmese, Sarjeant quickly fired six shots from his starting revolver. The horse was momentarily startled but the Queen brought her under control; she was unharmed. Lance Corporal Galloway (Scots Guards), Police Sergeant John Woodcock and John Heaseman (St John Ambulance) quickly reacted and subdued Sarjeant, who told them "I wanted to be famous. I wanted to be a somebody".
The attack happened fifteen minutes after the Queen's departure from Buckingham Palace. Immediately, the Sovereign's Escort was ordered by the Gold Stick in Waiting to "close up" around Her Majesty. The Queen regained control of her mount, and continued to Horse Guards Parade.
Read more about this topic: Marcus Sarjeant
Famous quotes containing the word attack:
“If you attack the establishment long enough and hard enough, they will make you a member of it.”
—Art Buchwald (b. 1925)
“Scandal is an importunate wasp, against which we must make no movement unless we are quite sure that we can kill it; otherwise it will return to the attack more furious than ever.”
—Sébastien-Roch Nicolas De Chamfort (1741–1794)
“His spiritual life has been exaggerated by a chronic attack of mental gallstones.”
—Oliver St. John Gogarty (1878–1957)