Queen Elizabeth II Was Almost Killed in the Early '80s

Details on the documents that reveal the royal assassination attempt

By Jess Cohen Mar 01, 2018 10:48 PMTags
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A teenager tried to kill Queen Elizabeth II on her trip to New Zealand in 1981, according to declassified intelligence documents obtained by Stuff.

The report states that during the Queen's tour of Dunedin on October 14, 1981, a 17-year-old named Christopher Lewis fired a gunshot at the royal monarch, but missed. A memo from the Security Intelligence Service dated in June 1997 states the teen "did indeed originally intend to assassinate the Queen."

The memo then continues, "However did not have a suitable vantage point from which to fire, nor a sufficiently high-powered rifle for the range from the target."

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Stuff reports that media who heard the gunshot "were told it was a falling sign." And while Lewis was later arrested, he wasn't charged with attempted murder.

When the publication inquired about a possible cover-up, a police spokesperson said, "Given the interest in this historic matter, the Police Commissioner Mike Bush has asked the Deputy Commissioner National Operations, Mike Clement, to oversee an examination by current investigation staff of the relevant case file."

The statement continued, "Given the passage of time, it is anticipated this examination of the old file and its associated material will take some time. NZ Police will share the outcome of this examination once it has been completed."

The Queen, now 91, would've been about 55 at the time.