Elizabeth II

=== Perils and dissent ===
[[File:ElizabethIItroopingcolour crop.jpg|thumb|right|alt=Elizabeth in red uniform on a black horse|Riding Burmese at the 1986 Trooping the Colour ceremony]]
During the 1981 [[Trooping the Colour]] ceremony, six weeks before the [[wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer]], six shots were fired at Elizabeth from close range as she rode down [[The Mall, London]], on her horse, [[Burmese (horse)|Burmese]]. Police later discovered the shots were blanks. The 17-year-old assailant, [[Marcus Sarjeant]], was sentenced to five years in prison and released after three.<ref>{{Cite news |date=14 September 1981 |title=Queen's 'fantasy assassin' jailed |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/14/newsid_2516000/2516713.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728131747/https://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/14/newsid_2516000/2516713.stm |archive-date=28 July 2011 |access-date=21 June 2010 |work=BBC News |mode=cs2}}</ref> Elizabeth's composure and skill in controlling her mount were widely praised.{{Sfnm|ps=none|Lacey|2002|1p=281|Pimlott|2001|2pp=476–477|Shawcross|2002|3p=192}} That October, Elizabeth was the subject of another attack while on a visit to [[Dunedin]], New Zealand. [[Christopher John Lewis]], who was 17 years old, fired a shot with a [[.22 rifle]] from the fifth floor of a building overlooking the parade but missed.<ref>{{Cite news |last=McNeilly |first=Hamish |date=1 March 2018 |title=Intelligence documents confirm assassination attempt on Queen Elizabeth in New Zealand |url=https://www.smh.com.au/world/oceania/intelligence-documents-confirm-assassination-attempt-on-queen-elizabeth-in-new-zealand-20180301-p4z282.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190626183822/https://www.smh.com.au/world/oceania/intelligence-documents-confirm-assassination-attempt-on-queen-elizabeth-in-new-zealand-20180301-p4z282.html |archive-date=26 June 2019 |access-date=1 March 2018 |work=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]] |mode=cs2}}</ref> Lewis was arrested, but instead of being charged with [[attempted murder]] or [[treason]] was sentenced to three years in jail for unlawful possession and discharge of a firearm. Two years into his sentence, he attempted to escape a [[psychiatric hospital]] with the intention of assassinating Charles, who was visiting the country with [[Diana, Princess of Wales|Diana]] and their son [[Prince William]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ainge Roy |first=Eleanor |date=13 January 2018 |title='Damn&nbsp;... I missed': the incredible story of the day the Queen was nearly shot |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/jan/13/queen-elizabeth-assassination-attempt-new-zealand-1981 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180301120257/https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/jan/13/queen-elizabeth-assassination-attempt-new-zealand-1981 |archive-date=1 March 2018 |access-date=1 March 2018 |work=[[The Guardian]] |mode=cs2}}</ref>

[[File:President Ronald Reagan riding horses with Queen Elizabeth II during visit to Windsor Castle.jpg|thumb|left|alt=Elizabeth and Ronald Reagan on black horses. He bare-headed; she in a headscarf; both in tweeds, jodhpurs and riding boots.|Riding at Windsor with President Reagan, June 1982]]
From April to September 1982, Elizabeth's son Andrew served with British forces in the [[Falklands War]], for which she reportedly felt anxiety{{Sfnm|ps=none|Bond|2006|1p=115|Pimlott|2001|2p=487}} and pride.{{Sfnm|ps=none|Pimlott|2001|1p=487|Shawcross|2002|2p=127}} On 9&nbsp;July, she awoke in her bedroom at Buckingham Palace to find an intruder, [[Michael Fagan (intruder)|Michael Fagan]], in the room with her. In a serious lapse of security, assistance only arrived after two calls to the Palace police switchboard.{{Sfnm|ps=none|Lacey|2002|1pp=297–298|Pimlott|2001|2p=491}} After hosting US president [[Ronald Reagan]] at Windsor Castle in 1982 and visiting [[Rancho del Cielo|his California ranch]] in 1983, Elizabeth was angered when [[Presidency of Ronald Reagan|his administration]] ordered the [[invasion of Grenada]], one of her Caribbean realms, without informing her.{{Sfnm|ps=none|Bond|2006|1p=188|Pimlott|2001|2p=497}}

Intense media interest in the opinions and private lives of the royal family during the 1980s led to a series of sensational stories in the press, pioneered by ''[[The Sun (United Kingdom)|The Sun]]'' tabloid.{{Sfn|ps=none|Pimlott|2001|pp=488–490}} As [[Kelvin MacKenzie]], editor of ''The Sun'', told his staff: "Give me a Sunday for Monday splash on the Royals. Don't worry if it's not true—so long as there's not too much of a fuss about it afterwards."{{Sfn|ps=none|Pimlott|2001|p=521}} Newspaper editor [[Donald Trelford]] wrote in ''[[The Observer]]'' of 21&nbsp;September 1986: "The royal soap opera has now reached such a pitch of public interest that the boundary between fact and fiction has been lost sight of&nbsp;... it is not just that some papers don't check their facts or accept denials: they don't care if the stories are true or not." It was reported, most notably in ''[[The Sunday Times]]'' of 20&nbsp;July 1986, that Elizabeth was worried that [[Margaret Thatcher]]'s [[Thatcherism#economicposition|economic policies]] fostered social divisions and was alarmed by high unemployment, [[1981 England riots|a series of riots]], the violence of [[UK miners' strike (1984–85)|a miners' strike]], and Thatcher's refusal to apply sanctions against the [[apartheid]] regime in South Africa. The sources of the rumours included royal aide [[Michael Shea (diplomat)|Michael Shea]] and Commonwealth secretary-general [[Shridath Ramphal]], but Shea claimed his remarks were taken [[out of context]] and embellished by speculation.<ref>{{Multiref|{{Harvnb|Hardman|2011|pp=216–217}}; {{Harvnb|Pimlott|2001|pp=503–515}}; {{Nowrap|see also}} | {{Harvnb|Neil|1996|pp=195–207}}; {{Harvnb|Shawcross|2002|pp=129–132}}}}</ref> Thatcher reputedly said Elizabeth would vote for the [[Social Democratic Party (UK)|Social Democratic Party]]—Thatcher's political opponents.<ref>{{Multiref|Thatcher to [[Brian Walden]], quoted in {{Harvnb|Neil|1996|pp=207}}; | Neil quoted in {{Harvnb|Wyatt|1999|loc= diary of 26&nbsp;October 1990}}}}</ref> Thatcher's biographer, [[John Campbell (biographer)|John Campbell]], claimed "the report was a piece of journalistic mischief-making".{{Sfn|ps=none|Campbell|2003|p=467}} Reports of acrimony between them were exaggerated,{{Sfn|ps=none|Hardman|2011|pp=167, 171–173}} and Elizabeth gave two honours in her personal gift—membership in the [[Order of Merit]] and the [[Order of the Garter]]—to Thatcher after her replacement as prime minister by [[John Major]].{{Sfnm|ps=none|Roberts|2000|1p=101|Shawcross|2002|2p=139}} [[Brian Mulroney]], Canadian prime minister between 1984 and 1993, said Elizabeth was a "behind the scenes force" in ending apartheid.<ref name="Geddes">{{Cite magazine |last=Geddes |first=John |year=2012 |title=The day she descended into the fray |magazine=[[Maclean's]] |page=72 |edition=Special Commemorative <!-- Edition: The Diamond Jubilee: Celebrating 60 Remarkable years --> |mode=cs2}}</ref><ref name="MacQueen">{{Cite magazine |last1=MacQueen |first1=Ken |last2=Treble |first2=Patricia |year=2012 |title=The Jewel in the Crown |magazine=Maclean's |pages=43–44 |edition=Special Commemorative <!-- Edition: The Diamond Jubilee: Celebrating 60 Remarkable years --> |mode=cs2}}</ref>

In 1986, Elizabeth paid a six-day state visit to the People's Republic of China, becoming the first British monarch to visit the country.<ref>{{Cite news |date=13 October 1986 |title=Queen fulfills a Royal Goal: To visit China |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/10/13/world/queen-fulfills-a-royal-goal-to-visit-china.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220606155118/https://www.nytimes.com/1986/10/13/world/queen-fulfills-a-royal-goal-to-visit-china.html |archive-date=6 June 2022 |access-date=8 September 2022 |work=The New York Times |mode=cs2}}</ref> The tour included the [[Forbidden City]], the [[Great Wall of China]], and the [[Terracotta Warriors]].{{Sfn|ps=none|BBC Books|1991|page=181}} At a [[state banquet]], Elizabeth joked about the first British emissary to China being lost at sea with [[Queen Elizabeth&nbsp;I]]'s letter to the [[Wanli Emperor]], and remarked, "fortunately postal services have improved since 1602".{{Sfn|ps=none|Hardman|2019|page=437}} Elizabeth's visit also signified the acceptance of both countries that [[Handover of Hong Kong|sovereignty over Hong Kong would be transferred]] from the United Kingdom to China in 1997.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Bogert |first=Carroll R. |date=13 October 1986 |title=Queen Elizabeth&nbsp;II Arrives In Peking for 6-Day Visit |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1986/10/13/queen-elizabeth-ii-arrives-in-peking-for-6-day-visit/60fd4c89-992c-4399-ae6a-3e38f15f7aad |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326033204/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1986/10/13/queen-elizabeth-ii-arrives-in-peking-for-6-day-visit/60fd4c89-992c-4399-ae6a-3e38f15f7aad/ |archive-date=26 March 2023 |access-date=12 October 2022 |newspaper=The Washington Post |issn=0190-8286 |mode=cs2}}</ref>

By the end of the 1980s, Elizabeth had become the target of satire.{{Sfnm|ps=none|Lacey|2002|1pp=293–294|Pimlott|2001|2p=541}} The involvement of younger members of the royal family in the charity game show ''[[It's a Royal Knockout]]'' in 1987 was ridiculed.{{Sfnm|ps=none|Hardman|2011|1pp=82–83|Lacey|2002|2p=307|Pimlott|2001|3pp=522–526}} In Canada, Elizabeth publicly supported politically divisive [[Meech Lake Accord|constitutional amendments]], prompting criticism from opponents of the proposed changes, including Pierre Trudeau.<ref name=Geddes /> The same year, the elected Fijian government was deposed in [[1987 Fijian coups d'état|a military coup]]. As [[monarch of Fiji]], Elizabeth supported the attempts of Governor-General [[Ratu Sir Penaia Ganilau]] to assert executive power and negotiate a settlement. Coup leader [[Sitiveni Rabuka]] deposed Ganilau and declared Fiji a republic.{{Sfn|ps=none|Pimlott|2001|pp=515–516}}