Palace prowler Michael Fagan has spoken of his brief moment with the Queen in her bedroom after he broke into Buckingham Palace.
The crook behind the most embarrassing royal security scandal has lifted the lid on the notorious night in 1982 when he found himself face-to-face with Her Majesty.
Fagan said he broke into the room because he thought the Queen could help him, and said their brief encounter ended when Her Majesty darted out of the room in her nightie.
He said she sat up in bed and demanded he tell her what he was doing, before running to get help.
The adventure will feature in the new series of The Crown, and insists he never meant to cause her any alarm.
He told The Sun: "I was fixated on the Queen.
"I knew she liked helping people and thought she might help me. I wanted to speak to her but I never planned to end up in her bedroom."
Netflix researchers did not interview Michael, who is now 70, and told The Sun he was depressed after his wife Christine ran off and left him to bring up their four young children.
He set off to see if Her Majesty could solve his problems, and scaled the 10ft railings near the Ambassador’s Gate — now the entrance used by visitors to Buckingham Palace.
He claims an off-duty policeman saw him climbing over but by the time he had alerted palace guards Michael could not be found.
Unbeknown to them, he had climbed in to the palace through an open window and wound up in the stamp room.
The stamp room is where the Queen’s grandfather’s priceless collection is held.
He told The Sun: "It was the stamp room, where the Queen’s grandfather’s priceless collection, one of the biggest in the world, is kept.
"The door was locked so I climbed back out of the window."
Michael then climbed up a drainpipe and snuck into another room, and took off his sandals and socks before climbing in through another window.
He walked through a hallway where a woman was hoovering and cut his hand on an ashtray he broke to escape through the pigeon netting on his way out.
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Michael told The Sun: "I just kept on walking, following my feet.
"There are 700 rooms in the palace and I didn’t know where the Queen’s bedroom was. I knew I wanted to see her but it wasn’t my plan to go into her bedroom."
It wasn't long before he came face to face with The Queen, who tried to call for help, but ended up running when nobody came.
Michael said: "I was sat there for about three minutes and the next thing this tall footman came into the room and, swear to God, said, ‘F*** me, you look like you could do with a drink’."
Michael was never charged with trespassing and breaking into the palace because he had got in through an open window.
He also believes officials did not want the Queen to give evidence in court.
Series 4 of The Crown is on Netflix from November 15
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