In the first treason case in decades, there was an assassination attempt on Queen Elizabeth in 2021. Luckily, the perpetrator was caught before anything happened, but what if it had? This is not the first assassination attempt on Queen Elizabeth, but it was the last one before her tragic passing on September 8th last year.
Jaswant Sing Chail (21) was caught at Windsor Castle on Christmas 2021 while attempting to scale the walls while carrying a crossbow. When authorities confronted him, he stated, “I am here to kill the queen.”
How It Went Down
The failed assassin Jaswant Sing Chail mounted the castle using a rope ladder. He explored the grounds for nearly two hours before a royal officer discovered him near the Queen’s quarters on the day of the break-in.
The officer drew a taser on the criminal when he encountered him at 8:10 a.m. and asked, “Morning, can I help, mate?” followed by a statement that he was there to kill the Queen. The officer told Chail to put down his weapon and go down on his hands and knees, which the invader obeyed.
This assassination attempt on Queen Elizabeth is scary because the security wasn’t ready to prevent this situation from happening in the first place. There will have to be more serious measures implemented in the Royal Family’s security in the future. The risk is simply too big to leave things like this to chance.
“Please don’t take my clothing, shoes, gloves, masks, etc, don’t want post-mortem, don’t want embalming, thank you and I’m sorry,” Chail wrote on a letter found in his possession. Prior to this assault, Chail allegedly applied to join the Ministry of Defense Police in order to become closer to the royals.
The Story Behind The Assassination Attempt
This assassination attempt on Queen Elizabeth was allegedly motivated by rage and revenge. The invader posted a Snapchat update on social media. The recordings were discovered to have been taken four days earlier. Around 20 people on his contact list got the video in which he said:
“This is revenge for those who have died in the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre. It is also revenge for those who have been killed, humiliated and discriminated on because of their race.”
On April 13, 1919, British forces opened fire on 10,000 unarmed demonstrators in the Indian city of Amritsar, killing an estimated 379 persons and wounding 1,200. Civil unrest and dissatisfaction were spreading across India at the time, notably in Punjab, as British officials failed to reverse harsh wartime measures that constrained India’s political sovereignty.
Previously, on April 10, 1919, reports circulated in Amritsar that several notable Indian leaders had been detained, provoking violent riots with armed soldiers. British officials imposed a restriction on public meetings, such as the hundreds that gathered in the afternoon of April 13 at the Jallianwala Bagh park, some to protest and others to celebrate the Sikh spring festival of Baisakhi.
Although experts question whether a distinct Sikh identity emerged, many Sikhs today see Baisakhi as a pivotal point in the Sikh faith.
The area was surrounded by high walls and had only one exit, trapping everyone inside as the army allegedly shot hundreds of rounds of gunfire. The murder became synonymous with modern Indian history, galvanizing support for Indian nationalism and independence from Britain.
Generally, people think that the security of presidents, prime ministers, and royal families is perfect and impenetrable. All of us with years of experience working in the industry know that this is not true and that high-level security frequently has a lot of flaws.
This is the case of the mentioned attack on the late Queen of England. We don’t have enough information for a complete analysis, but from the information we got from the media, we can state that: The attacker was performing surveillance of the facility for an extended period of time – without being spotted by royal security.
So we have an evident lack of counter-surveillance. The fact that the attacker managed to jump the fence of the residence is proof that the physical security of the residence was insufficient. The surveillance failed in terms of both human and technical factors, because no one saw him climbing, jumping, and entering the residence. No alarm systems were activated, and no camera detected the intruder at the moment. All of this was accomplished by a single troubled individual.
Can you imagine what would happen if the attack was perpetrated by trained professionals, terrorists, etc.? Recent “benign” attacks on French and Chilean presidents and many other attacks on the members of the European Parliament, members of royal families show that the security of her high-level personality is very vulnerable.
We have to change and improve the security of these individuals, to avoid tragedies in the near future.
Ivan Ivanovich, Vice President and Partner at WSO – Worldwide Security Options
Act of Treason
In the United Kingdom it is illegal under the Treason Act of 1842 to commit or attempt an attack, to threaten the Queen with a weapon, or to disturb the peace. Under the statute, Chail faces up to seven years in prison. The last time a treason attempt equated to prison time for the perpetrator was in 1981. Marcus Sarjeant was sentenced to five years in jail. This happened after shooting blank bullets at the Queen during a ceremony in London.
The previous Treason Act of 1351 was more severe, making all assaults on a monarch punishable by death. The only person convicted under the more serious 1351 statute was William Joyce, who was executed in 1946 for spreading Nazi propaganda.
The assassination attempt on Queen Elizabeth or of any monarch is a serious crime and the people who try this have to be aware of the consequences of their actions. While not common, these attempts can become bad or even tragic. This is why security measures have to be at the best possible level.
The Hampshire, England citizen will appear in court on March 31 as the first individual in the United Kingdom to be convicted of treason in more than 40 years. He pled guilty to possessing a lethal weapon and threatening to murder the Queen. Chail is presently getting therapy in a high-security mental institution.