London Plot
| London Plot | |
|---|---|
| Location | London, United Kingdom |
| Date | 22 December, 1952 |
| Target | Charles III and Queen Lauren of the United Kingdom |
Attack type | Assassination |
| Weapons | One Colt M1911 pistol |
Non-fatal injuries | Two bystanders |
| Assailants | Harrison Baker |
| Motive | Assassinate the British royal family. |
| Accused | Sir Oswald Mosley (alleged instigator) |
| Convicted | Harrison Baker |
| Verdict | Life imprisonment |
| Charges | Treason, Attempted murder |
The London Plot, alternatively known as the Baker's Plot was an assassination attempt conducted by Harrison Baker, a 41-year old English citizen against the then newly inaugurated Charles III and Queen Lauren. The attack was notoriously linked to the disgraced British politician Oswald Mosley whom was then living in exile in Ireland, though no convincing or legitimate convictions were ever brought against Mosley despite his perceived role as an instigator and potential organiser of the attempt.
Background
Since their simultaneous ascension as King and Queen of the United Kingdom, the royal couple was faced with a sizable degree of lethal and violent opposition against their rule, most notably eminent among Britain's far-right members, with anti-Semitism being the main basis for their dissent against the British monarchy. Consequently, royal security was greatly amplified at both home and abroad, with the King and Queen narrowly surviving an assassination attempt in Baghdad.
Regardless, neither of these attempts turned out successful and neither would any of them proved effective in preventing the royals from consistently engaging in public ceremonies as traditionally required.
Attempt
On December 1952, the two royals had been invited to attend the opening of a new bank in the northern area of London. For the occasion, the royal entourage alongside their necessary provisions and security men were also accompanied by the likes of the Lord Mayor of London and a number of other city officials. At 11:30 a.m., the 1 hour long ceremony concluded and the royal entourage immediately began preparing to leave back for Buckingham Palace, with the King and Queen seated in their Daimler automobile which was typically flanked by police escorts. At approximately two minutes into the departure, Baker, whom had been standing among the crowd fired his Colt M1911 pistol from a distance of about twenty feet away. However, as the bullet landed on an armour-plated part of the vehicle, thereby protecting the royal occupants from direct harm, Baker then deliberately attempted to ran towards the vehicle itself, with the intent of forcibly opening the doors and shooting the royals at point blank range.
Almost immediately, he wrestled with a number of police officers and surrounding bystanders, in which he was able to inflict minor injuries on two of the bystanders who had attempted to subdue him though he was subsequently arrested while the royal entourage hastened their departure.
Aftermath
While the English judicial system had warranted a maximum sentence of life imprisonment towards Baker should he be convicted of treason, initial efforts were taken to analyse Baker's mental state to which it then presented Baker as a clearly sane man, which consequently denied him from being sent to a mental asylum. He was then found guilty of treason and attempted murder, which resulted in Baker being given a life imprisonment sentence after several reverses.
In the days following the incident, local newspaper company The Times reported "possible circumstances tying the involvement of Sir Oswald Mosley to the anti-royal plot". This quickly gained circulation among the British public, prompting Churchill's government to launch an inquiry into the possible involvement of Mosley in the attempted assassination plot. However, the fragility and the relatively unfounded nature of such claims, aside from Mosley's outward anti-Semitism rendered the investigation almost useless, compounded by the fact that Mosley himself is living in an another country though a proposed agreement between the British and Irish goverments briefly surfaced, but to no avail. After just two weeks, the inquiry was officially dropped.