British Prime Minister Tony Blair braved an assassination threat from al-Qaeda and went ahead with the plans to attend the Queen's 2002 Golden Jubilee celebrations. The risk to the prime minister's life was disclosed in a new BBC documentary by Lord Stevens, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner in 2002, who positioned marksmen around Buckingham Palace in readiness for an attack by bombers or snipers.

"There was a threat against the prime minister over the Queen's Jubilee Period. It was an assassination threat. There was good reason to believe that the threat was credible," he was quoted as saying by British daily The Telegraph. Blair became the target after he deployed British troops in Afghanistan to overthrow Taliban.

"We went ahead with the preparations as the prime minister was absolutely determined that he was going ahead with the public appearances on that day. There were a lot of police officers around. There were lots of marksmen in the actual vicinity," he said.

The climax of the celebrations in the summer of 2002 was a street party in The Mall attended by the Queen and senior members of the Royal Family, the paper said.

"You have to admire him and Cherie Blair, who also knew about the threat, for doing that. They showed great personal courage," he said.