Protesters who are against monarchy booed King Charles III the moment he was crowned in Westminster Abbey, and afterwards launched into a chant of “not my king”.
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports King Charles III was crowned on Saturday in Britain’s biggest ceremonial event for seven decades, a sumptuous display of pageantry dating back 1,000 years.
In front of a congregation of about 100 world leaders and a television audience of millions, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, the spiritual leader of the Anglican Church, slowly placed the 360-year-old St Edward’s Crown on Charles’ head as he sat upon a 14th-century throne in Westminster Abbey.
The historic and solemn event dates back to the time of the 74-year-old’s predecessor William the Conqueror in 1066.
Republican protesters were arrested just hours before the coronation of King Charles III, after police seized lock-on devices.
Footage on Twitter showed officers using their powers under the new Public Order Act, as chief executive of anti-monarchy group Republic, Graham Smith, was among those apprehended in St Martin’s Lane near Trafalgar Square.
Pictures showed demonstrators in yellow “Not My King” T-shirts, including Smith, having their details taken.
In one video an officer said: “I’m not going to get into a conversation about that, they are under arrest, end of.”
The Metropolitan Police confirmed four people were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance on St Martin’s Lane and that lock-on devices were seized.
The force also said they made a number of breaching-the-peace arrests in the area of Carlton House Terrace and a further three arrests in the Wellington Arch area on suspicion of possessing articles to cause criminal damage.
Just Stop Oil told the PA news agency approximately 13 protesters were arrested on the Mall ahead of the coronation.
A spokeswoman for the campaign group said five demonstrators were also arrested at Downing Street and one at Piccadilly.
Footage from the Mall showed the Just Stop Oil protesters being handcuffed and taken away by a heavy police presence.
Campaign group Human Rights Watch described the arrests as “incredibly alarming”, adding: “This is something you would expect to see in Moscow not London.”
One Just Stop Oil protester Ben Larsen, 25, said he was there to see the coronation and peacefully protest
Grinning at police officers, he told them: “You’ve searched me and haven’t found shit.”
A police officer told him: “You need to educate yourself on what peaceful protest is.”
On Wednesday the Metropolitan Police said they would have an “extremely low threshold” for protests during the coronation celebrations, and that demonstrators could expect “swift action.”
Under the controversial new Public Order Act, protesters who have an object with the intention of using it to “lock on” are liable to a fine, with those who block roads facing 12 months in prison.
Critics previously hit out at plans from the Met to use facial recognition software on crowds to assist their policing operations.
An official letter warning of the new powers was sent to Republic, which said its campaign around the coronation would proceed as planned.
Just after 7:30 am (0630 GMT) on Saturday, one woman in a Republic T-shirt was carried away by officers during an interview with the PA news agency.
Before being arrested, she said: “We had a delivery of placards ready for the protest and then the tactical support unit questioned us as to how we had got through the road closures.
“They questioned whether what we were doing was a delivery.
“They then said they found evidence of means of locking on, of items that could be used to lock on, and they arrested us.”
Officers carried her away from where she had been standing outside a Tesco store.
Two men who appeared to have been part of the same demonstration were carried away by officers to a marked police van.
Another protester, Symon Hill, 46, who was previously arrested for shouting “who elected him?” during a proclamation ceremony for the king, said he hoped he would not be arrested again.
Hill had charges against him of using threatening or abusive words or disorderly behaviour likely to cause harassment, alarm, or distress dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service.
He told PA: “‘I very, very much hope I will not be arrested. I am joining peaceful, lawful protest and I am worried there will be more arrests on spurious grounds.
‘’I am nervous but determined to keep on protesting peacefully against monarchy and arbitrary policing.
‘’The arrests this morning are appalling but I am not surprised.”
The policing operation will see 11,500 police on duty on Saturday.
Meanwhile, shortly after King Charles III was crowned, his second wife, Camilla, 75, was crowned queen during the two-hour ceremony.
Rooted in history, the coronation ceremony is an attempt to present a forward-looking monarchy, with those involved in the service reflecting a more diverse Britain and leaders from all faiths.
For a nation struggling to find its way in the political maelstrom after its exit from the European Union and maintain its standing in a new world order, its supporters say the royal family provides an international draw, a vital diplomatic tool, and a means of staying on the world stage.
“No other country could put on such a dazzling display – the processions, the pageantry, the ceremonies, and street parties,” Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said.
Despite Sunak’s enthusiasm, the coronation takes place amid a cost of living crisis and public scepticism, particularly among the young, about the role and relevance of the monarchy.
Saturday’s event was on a smaller scale than that staged for Queen Elizabeth in 1953 but still sought to be spectacular, featuring an array of historical regalia from golden orbs and bejewelled swords to a sceptre holding the world’s largest colourless cut diamond.
Charles automatically succeeded his mother as king on her death last September, and the coronation is not essential but regarded as a means to legitimise the monarch in a public way.
The king and queen left Buckingham Palace for the abbey in the modern, black Diamond State Jubilee Coach accompanied by cavalrymen wearing shining breastplates and plumed helmets.
Hundreds of soldiers in scarlet uniforms and black bearskin hats lined the route along The Mall, the grand boulevard to Buckingham Palace. Tens of thousands ignored the light rain to mass in a crowd more than 20 deep in some places to watch what some saw as a moment of history.
“The split-second glance of seeing the king is really important but I think the whole day as well … the idea of the nation coming together.
“You very much feel the pride in the nation,” said Mark Strasshine after the royal coach went by.
However, not all were there to cheer Charles, hundreds of republicans booed and waved banners reading “Not My King”.
More than 11,000 police were deployed to stamp out any attempted disruption, and the Republic campaign group said its leader Graham Smith had been arrested along with five other protesters.
“It is an unequal and out-of-date system because it has a hereditary billionaire individual born into wealth and privilege who basically symbolises the inequality of wealth and power in our society,” said lawmaker Clive Lewis, who was among the anti-monarchy protesters.
Inside the abbey, bedecked with flowers and flags, politicians and representatives from Commonwealth nations took their seats alongside charity workers and celebrities, including actors Emma Thompson, Maggie Smith, Judi Dench and U.S. singer Katy Perry.
Much of the ceremony featured elements that Charles’ forebears right back to King Edgar in 973 would recognise, officials said. Handel’s coronation anthem “Zadok The Priest” was sung as it has been at every coronation since 1727.
But there was also the new, including an anthem composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, famed for his West End and Broadway theatre shows, and a gospel choir.
Charles’ grandson Prince George and the grandchildren of Camilla acted as pages, and although a Christian service, at the end there will be an “unprecedented” greeting from faith leaders.
However, there was no formal role for either Charles’ younger son Prince Harry, after his high-profile falling out with his family, or his brother Prince Andrew, who was forced to quit royal duties because of his friendship with late U.S. financier Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex offender.
They sat in the third row behind working members of the royal family.
Charles looked serious as he swore oaths to govern justly and uphold the Church of England – of which he is the titular head – before the most sacred part of the ceremony when he was anointed on his hands, head, and breast by Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby with holy oil consecrated in Jerusalem.
After being presented with symbolic regalia, Welby placed the St Edward’s Crown on his head and the congregation cried out “God save the King”.
After the service, Charles and Camilla will depart in the four-tonne Gold State Coach built for George III, the last king of Britain’s American colonies, riding to Buckingham Palace in a one-mile procession of 4,000 military personnel from 39 nations.
It will be the largest show of its kind in Britain since the coronation of Charles’ mother.
“When you see everyone dressed up and taking part it is just fantastic. It makes you so proud,” said teacher Andy Mitchell, 63, who left his house in the early hours to get into London.
“My big concern is that younger people are losing interest in all of this and it won’t be the same in the future”.
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