The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has released new documents that reveal Queen Elizabeth faced a potential assassination attempt during her visit to the United States in 1983. The documents describe what appears to be information that was given to federal investigators about danger to the monarch's life in California 40 years ago, as per a report in the BBC.
They state that a police officer who frequently visited an Irish pub in San Francisco alerted FBI investigators about a call from a man he had met there. According to the police, the man claimed to be seeking revenge for his daughter who "had been killed in Northern Ireland by a rubber bullet".
"He was going to attempt to harm Queen Elizabeth and would do this either by dropping some object off the Golden Gate Bridge onto the Royal Yacht Britannia when it sails underneath or would attempt to kill Queen Elizabeth when she visited Yosemite National Park," as per the documents. It is to be noted that the threat came on February 4, 1983, which was roughly a month ahead of Queen Elizabeth's and Duke of Edinburgh's visit.
The documents also say that the Secret Service had prepared to "close the walkways on the Golden Gate Bridge as the yacht nears" in response to the threat. However, it is unknown what steps were taken in Yosemite. The FBI did not release any information regarding the arrests.
As per The Guardian, another document made available online by the FBI pertaining to the Queen's 1991 state visit to the US discloses worries that Irish groups were preparing to oppose the monarch's appearance at a baseball game and a White House event.
It is to be noted that Lord Mountbatten, the Queen's second cousin, died in a 1979 IRA bombing in County Sligo in Ireland.
