Table 1

The Nature of Attacks and Attackers' Psychiatric Status

Case	Year	Name	Age	Attack	Psychiatric Status	Disposal
1	1778	Rebecca O'Hara	30s	Knife attack as George III alighted from carriage at St. James' Palace	Delusional conviction that she was true queen	Committed to Bedlam, where she remained deluded
2	1786	Margaret Nicholson	45 years	Attempted to stab George III as he entered St. James' Palace	Chronic petitioner; delusional beliefs	Committed to Bedlam, where she remained deluded until her death in 1828
3	1790	John Frith	30 years	Threw a stone at the royal carriage	At trial, gave a delusional account of his motivation for attack	Found unfit to plead and committed to an asylum
4	1800	James Hadfield	29 years	Shot at George III in Drury Lane Theatre	Had serious head injury sustained while a soldier in the recent war with France; a postmortem many years later revealed extensive damage to the nondominant frontal temporal area; deluded	Found insane and committed to Bedlam, where he remained actively psychotic
5	1801	Catherine Kirby	?	Threw stones at George III in the street	Considered too insane to be tried; deluded	Committed permanently to Bedlam
6	1801	Urban Metcalf	25 years	Attacked George III with knife at the theatre	A six-year history of periods of psychotic excitement (probably manic) interspersed with relative normality; deluded	In and out of Bedlam until finally and permanently committed to York asylum in 1822
7	1832	Dennis Collins	60 years	Threw flint at William IV at the Ascot Races	Insanity plea based only on counsel's assertion of melancholy; rejected	Transportation to Australia
8	1840	Edward Oxford	18 years	Fired twice at Queen Victoria's carriage in London	Insanity plea based mainly on evidence from family; found insane	Transferred to Bedlam, but showed no subsequent signs of insanity; released, and emigrated to Australia where he had a successful career as a writer
9	1842	John Francis	19 years	Attempted to shoot at Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in the royal carriage	Unhappy, socially isolated youth expressing anger at world in general; no psychiatric disorder found.	Guilty verdict; transported to Australia
10	1842	John Bean	18 years	Tried to fire a defective gun at Queen Victoria's carriage	Distressed, isolated youth with antimonarchy sentiments; said he was tired of life and wished for death; no psychotic features	Guilty verdict; imprisoned
11	1849	William Hamilton	17 years	Fired on Queen Victoria's carriage	Unemployed, recent immigrant from Ireland; isolated, desperate; no psychotic features	Guilty verdict; transported
12	1850	Robert Pate	30 years	Struck Queen Victoria with a brass-topped cane while she was in her carriage	Pleaded insanity, supported by evidence from two leading psychiatrists with no opposing evidence; despite this, found guilty	Transported to Australia
13	1868	Henry James O'Farrell	35 years	Shot Queen Victoria's son in the back at the Grand Picnic in Sydney, Australia	Trained for priesthood but became increasingly odd and withdrawn. Said to have developed “religious mania”^17,18; diary discovered after the attack described as a “jumble of clearly lunatic ravings”; not psychiatrically evaluated (probably due to political interference)	Found guilty and executed
14	1872	Arthur O'Connor	17 years	Entered the grounds of Buckingham Palace and pointed a gun at Queen Victoria	Insanity defense supported by several eminent psychiatrists, but O'Connor sabotaged their attempt by pleading guilty; deluded	Transported to Australia, but returned and again attempted to enter Buckingham Palace; this time committed permanently to Hanwell Asylum as deluded and insane
15	1882	Roderick Maclean	28 years	Fired a pistol at Queen Victoria as she sat in her carriage at Windsor Station	Prior history of admissions to lunatic asylums; unanimous opinion of four psychiatrists who examined him after the attack was that he was deluded; found insane	Committed to Broadmore Asylum for criminal lunatics
16	1936	Jerome Bannigam, aka Patrick McMahon	34 years	Raised a loaded revolver at Edward VIII who was riding in royal procession after trooping of the colours	Habitually drifted ‘into a state of phantasy whence he emerges with his persecutory ideas woven into a tissue of malicious defamation of others.’ Not certifiable.	Sentenced to 2 years' hard labor
17	1974	Ian Ball	20 years	Attempted to kidnap Princess Anne; shot and seriously injured two protection officers and two bystanders who came to the aid of the princess	Prior history of psychiatric disorder; deluded; diagnosed schizophrenia	Committed to Broadmoor Hospital where he remains
18	1981	Marcus Sargeant	17 years	Fired blanks at Queen Elizabeth on Horseguards' Parade at the trooping of the colours	Discharged from army after 3 months; attempted unsuccessfully to join police and fire brigade; fascinated by previous assassinations; wanted to become famous; refused psychiatric evaluation	Imprisoned; some years later committed to a psychiatric hospital; religious delusions
19	1986	Christopher John Lewis	17 years	Fired a rifle at Queen Elizabeth on a visit to Dunedin in New Zealand	Extremist right-wing views; history of offending; no psychiatric evaluation before trial	Imprisoned; later transferred to secure psychiatric hospital; wrote an autobiography¹⁹; eventually committed suicide
20	1986	Alfred Adcock	57 years	Indecently assaulted Diana Princess of Wales at a public function	Long history of psychiatric admissions; deluded; diagnosed schizophrenia	Committed to secure psychiatric hospital
21	1990	Henearoachuca Tepou	27 years	Threw wet T-shirt at Queen Elizabeth on a visit to New Zealand	Activist for Maori rights; no psychiatric disorder	Noncustodial sentence
22	1994	David Kang	23 years	Fired starting pistol at Charles, Prince of Wales, on visit to Australia	Activist for refugee's rights; history of treatment for depressive illness; hoped to be shot by police	Guilty; noncustodial sentence
23	1994	Castilav Bracanov	58 years	Sprayed Prince Charles with an aerosol on New Zealand visit	Antiroyalist; eccentric, but not psychotic	Noncustodial sentence

Details of the psychiatric status of the attackers and their eventual disposal. There is sufficient information to regard the attackers as psychotic at the time of 11 incidents (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 12, 14, 15, 17, 20). There is a history of psychiatric disorder characterized by delusional ideas, either before or subsequent to the attack in a further two cases (13 and 18), although evidence for the attackers' state of mind when they attacked is absent. A further two cases (19 and 22) had received psychiatric treatment.