The Lithgow Plot was a purported assassination attempt of Queen

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

on 29 April 1970 at Lithgow,

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, while she was undertaking a royal tour of Australia. The Queen and her husband

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 1921 – 9 April 2021) was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he served as the consort of the British monarch from E ...

were on a train trip from Sydney to

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. The incident was first reported in January 2009.'Code of secrecy' kept alleged Queen assassination plot quiet

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, 29 Jan 2009

Incident

The would-be

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supposedly rolled a large wooden log onto the tracks when it was dark and wedged it into place. It was meant to de-rail the train and, if it did, it would have smashed into an embankment. It failed because, at the time, the train was travelling unusually slowly when it struck the blockage, though it still slid for 700 metres before coming to a stop. The royal couple were unaware of the attempt. A train had been through an hour before the Queen's train to check the line but at that time it was clear.

"Tele
Queen and Prince Philip were 'victims' of Australian assassination attempt

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, 27 January 2009 Australian

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sympathisers were among the suspects,Revealed: the Aussie plot to kill the Queen
Sydney Morning Herald, 28 January 2009 but no one was ever charged.

Lack of coverage

In January 2009, retired Detective Superintendent Cliff McHardy gave the story to the ''

Lithgow Mercury The ''Lithgow Mercury'', is a tri-weekly English language newspaper first published in 1878 in Lithgow, New South Wales, Australia. History The ''Lithgow Mercury'' was established in 1878. Initially a weekly publication, the paper was publis ...

''. The story was corroborated by Lithgow Mercury editor Len Ashworth, who said that the decision to not publish the story in 1970 was due to "an arrangement with the police". According to McHardy the government of Australia told the local police to keep quiet about the incident. This purportedly hampered the investigation attempt because people interviewed either couldn't or wouldn't speak about what had taken place. In 2009, Buckingham Palace declined to comment on the issue but has said that a diary of the trip has shown no record of the train hitting a log. NSW Police's only comment was that they were "no longer actively investigating" the incident.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lithgow Plot 1970 in Australia Elizabeth II Failed assassination attempts in Oceania