Police have taken action after protestors attempted to “obstruct the enjoyment and celebration” of the coronation.
A spokesperson for the anti-monarchist group Republic has said that its leader, Graham Smith, has been arrested in the lead up to the coronation of King Charles III.
The coronation, which is due to take place on Saturday afternoon in London, had reportedly been a target for the group, who wished to stage a protest which would gain global recognition for the cause of abolishing the monarchy.
London’s Chief of Police Mark Rowley had warned on Friday that his force would adopt a “very low tolerance” policy for disruption to coronation proceedings on the streets of central London.
Confirming that “a number of arrests” had been made on “suspicion of breaching the peace”, the police also announced that a further four people had been detained “on suspicion of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance”.
An additional three protestors were also arrested “on suspicion of possessing articles to cause criminal damage”, with those ‘articles’ reportedly being cans of yellow paint.
The Republic group had planned to stage a large-scale protest under the statue of King Charles I along the coronation route, with over 1,000 protestors set to demonstrate against the monarchy.
This morning, @GrahamSmith_ and 5 members of our team were arrested. Hundreds of placards were seized. Is this democracy? #NotMyKing #Coronation
— Republic (@RepublicStaff) May 6, 2023
However, more than 11,000 police officers have been deployed on the streets of London ahead of Saturday’s coronation, which has been dubbed Britain’s biggest ceremonial event in 70 years.
Police Chief Rowley also declared in advance of the planned protests that police would take action if people tried to “obstruct the enjoyment and celebration” of a significant number of people.
From an Irish perspective, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar will be in attendance at today’s coronation alongside President Michael D. Higgins and Sinn Féin Vice President Michelle O’Neill.
Following a Buckingham Palace reception with the Royal family yesterday, Mr. Varadkar stated that he views King Charles III and his wife as Camilla as “friends of Ireland”, and urged them to visit the country following the coronation.
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