(2 of 2)
The hyperbolic British press went wild over the incident. The Sun, whose more than 4 million daily circulation is the largest in the country, is said to have paid Fagan's wife, Christine for the rights to her story and proceeded to tantalize readers with tacky comments: the Queen was wearing a shortie nightgown at the time; she had the figure of a 16-year-old; her wig, so Fagan purportedly told Christine, was sitting in her room. Other papers made much of the fact that Elizabeth and Prince Philip obviously have separate bedrooms. Pondered the Daily Mirror too ponderously: "Separate beds. How important is it to cuddle up together?"
Metropolitan Police Assistant Com missioner John Bellow last week faced the delicate task of determining where security had failed and where improve ments could be made. Dellow's dilemma: the royal family dislikes security precautions so much and is so well regarded that measures for its safekeeping have become too lax. Ronald Reagan, by contrast, is so well guarded that his protection became a major irritant between U.S. and British security officials last month when the President stayed at Windsor Castle. Still, the Queen may need more security than she thinks. Only 13 months before her un scheduled bedside audience, a bystander fired six blank pistol shots in her direction as she was riding down London's Mall to the Trooping of the Color. As Alice might have put it, God—and tighter security—save the Queen.
— By Spencer Davidson. Reported by Arthur White/London