Plot to kill Queen Elizabeth: Documents show FBI was aware of threat during 1983 U.S. visit

Federal law enforcement took steps to thwart a suspected assassination plot against Queen Elizabeth when she visited the San Francisco Bay Area four decades ago, a new report says.

Recently released documents show the feds were aware of a sympathizer of the Irish Republican Army, who wished to harm the Queen from a vantage point on the Golden Gate Bridge, reports People Magazine.

The Queen and Prince Philip came to the U.S. in 1983, during the time of the Troubles, the violent conflict over whether Northern Ireland would remain part of the United Kingdom.

Then-President Ronald Reagan invited the royal couple to visit his home state, and the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh arrived on February 26 via the Royal Yacht Britannia.

The FBI files show that a San Francisco Police Department officer received information from a colleague who was plugged into the scene at the Dovre Club, according to People.

The Dovre Club, an Irish bar in San Francisco still in business, had a reputation at the time of being a “republican bar,” meaning it was frequented by sympathizers of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA), say media reports.

According to the FBI files, a patron from the Dovre Club had claimed that his daughter “had been killed in Northern Ireland by a rubber bullet” and that he’d devised a plan of attack on the British monarch.

“This man additionally claimed he was going to attempt to harm Queen Elizabeth and would do this either by dropping some object off the Golden Gate Bridge when it sails underneath or would attempt to kill Queen Elizabeth when she visited Yosemite National Park,” the documents said.

In response, the Secret Service decided to close the walking paths on the Golden Gate Bridge when it was time for Queen Elizabeth’s ship to pass underneath.

Queen Elizabeth completed her visit “without incident,” and the FBI’s investigation into the death threat was closed.