- Marcus Sarjeant had written a note warning the Queen not to attend the ceremony.
Due to her ongoing cancer treatment, Her Majesty will not appear on horseback in Trooping the Color today.
Instead, you’ll watch the proceedings from a relatively stress-free position in a carriage before making the traditional appearance on the balcony of Buckingham Palace.
But in June 1981, Trooping ended up being particularly stressful for the Queen, Charles’s mother, when 17-year-old Marcus Sarjeant fired six blank shots at her.
Her Majesty was riding her beloved Burmese horse through The Mall when gunshots rang out, terrifying her steed.
Showing her poise and coolness under pressure, the Queen calmed her horse and continued with her duties while Sarjeant was accosted by a soldier and then arrested.
Sarjeant had sent a letter to Buckingham Palace before the attack that chillingly read: “Your Majesty.” Don’t go to the Trooping the Color ceremony because there is an assassin ready to kill you waiting outside the palace.
However, the note arrived three days after the incident.
In 1981, Trooping ended up being particularly stressful for the Queen: when 17-year-old Marcus Sarjeant fired six blank shots at her.
Her Majesty was riding her beloved Burmese horse through The Mall when gunshots rang out, terrifying her steed.
Sarjeant allegedly told Corporal Alex Galloway, the soldier who subdued him: “I wanted to be famous.” I wanted to be someone.’
He was later imprisoned for five years under the Treason Act 1842, which was introduced after two men made an attempt on Queen Victoria’s life.
Corporal Galloway told the Mail after the incident: ‘My only thought was to save the Queen’s life.
‘I thought it was a real gun and I lunged through the barrier into the crowd and grabbed it.
‘I grabbed him by the hair and took him to the mall. In a matter of seconds the police arrived and took him away.
During police questioning following his arrest, Sarjeant claimed that he had been inspired by the recent assassination attempts on US President Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II, and the assassination of John Lennon a year earlier.
Sarjeant had previously attempted to join the police and fire services and had also attempted to join the Royal Marines.
Queen Elizabeth II riding a Burmese during Trooping the Color in 1981
The Queen rides her Burmese horse during Trooping the Colour, 1981
Sarjeant was later imprisoned for five years under the Treason Act 1842, which was introduced after two men made an attempt on Queen Victoria’s life.
The moment after Marcus Sarjeant fired blank shots at the Queen during Trooping the Color
He also enlisted in the army, but left after only two days of initiation.
He became involved in the anti-royalist movement and purchased two imitation Colt Python revolvers for £66.90.
Both weapons were only capable of firing blanks, but Sarjeant had also tried, unsuccessfully, to obtain live ammunition for his father’s pistol.
Sarjeant’s grandmother Sylvia told the Mail before his sentencing: “I love the Royal Family, every single one of them, especially the Queen and the Queen Mother, and it hurts my heart that my grandson would be accused of something like this”.
While serving his three-year prison sentence, he reportedly wrote to the Queen to apologize but received no response.
He didn’t let the 1981 incident change any of his plans: the following year he returned to riding for Trooping.
Daily Mail coverage told how Sarjeant was accused of treason. He was jailed for five years.