How did British royals rehearse for being kidnapped?
Ben Macintyre's new 'The Siege' says they went to a special-ops base known as the Killing House
Ben Macintyre’s talents include one seldom mentioned in reviews of his popular nonfiction thrillers: He knows how to shape an anecdote.
Take his new The Siege: A Six-Day Hostage Crisis and the Daring Special-Forces Operation That Shocked the World, which I’ll review soon if Hurricane Helene spares us.
One of its stories involves a military base in the west of England where Britain’s special forces strike team, the SAS, trained for hostage rescues.
In the middle of the base stood a brick building known as the Killing House. Built in 1973, it had steel walls lined with rubber drapes to absorb bullets and extractor fans to remove gunshot fumes after target practice. Macintyre writes:
“In later years, members of the royal family were brought here to taste the experience of being kidnapped and then liberated by the most elite force in the British Army. Before one such training session, Prince Charles (now King Charles III) sent a jocular note: ‘Should this demonstration go wrong I, the undersigned Prince of Wales, will not commit B Squadron 22 Special Air Service Regiment to the Tower of London. Charles.’ He was accompanied by his then wife, Princess Diana, whose hair was slightly singed by a thunder-flash grenade during the demonstration. ‘Hope you’re not going out tonight, love,’ said one of the soldiers. ‘Your hair is a bit of a mess.’ “
PS I hope the hurricane dies out very soon.
Ben Macintyre's book The Siege was serialised in The Times (unsurprisingly) recently. Not my usual type of read but it was superb. I witnessed the events live on TV at the time so it had a resonance too.