THE METROPOLITAN police service is to be asked to defend its handling of security for the British royal family, following the attack on the car carrying Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, on Regent Street on Thursday during student protests.
One of the 40 or so demonstrators who surrounded, kicked and beat the maroon Rolls-Royce hit the Duchess of Cornwall with a stick through an open window, it has emerged.
British prime minister David Cameron backed the police, saying: “We do need to learn the lessons of this. It was a very regrettable incident. But in the end, let’s remember, that this was not the fault of the police, this was the fault of the people that tried to smash up that car.”
Meanwhile, the Independent Police Complaints Commission is carrying out an investigation into injuries suffered by one protester, Alfie Meadows, who underwent a three-hour operation to stop bleeding in the brain after being allegedly hit with a police truncheon.
The prince and the Duchess of Cornwall were on their way to the Royal Variety Performance when the incident happened. Though clearly shocked, the duchess spoke to a well-wisher after the show, saying: “I’m fine thanks – first time for everything.” The royal couple were later driven back to Clarence House in a police van.
Police had surveyed the area – which was some distance away from Westminster where the main protest was taking place – minutes before the royals passed through but protesters had time to organise when their car and those of their security staff became stuck in traffic.
Home secretary Theresa May will face MPs’ questions next Tuesday. The Commons’ home affairs committee chairman Keith Vaz asked: “Was it wise to take a car that was so distinctive through the middle of London during the aftermath of the biggest demonstration seen for years?”
Conservative MP David Davis said Metropolitan police commissioner Paul Stephenson had “very serious questions to answer” about the incident. “Why were professional anarchists and violent agitators allowed to come anywhere near the car?” he said.
There have been questions also about the position of the head of the royals’ protection unit, Peter Loughborough, often described as Britain’s “poshest cop” as he is the seventh Earl of Rosslyn, and sits in the House of Lords as an hereditary peer.
The royal family is said to value him highly and have made it clear they do not want any change in key personnel in advance of the wedding next April of Prince William and his fiancee Kate Middleton.
The prime minister, angered by events, condemned those who had destroyed flags on the Cenotaph, attacked the treasury building, defaced the statue of Winston Churchill and attacked the royals.
“It’s no good to say ‘this was just a very small minority’. It wasn’t. There were quite a number of people who clearly were there wanting to pursue violence and destroy property,” Mr Cameron said. “What we need to make sure is that these people who behaved in these appalling ways feel the full force of the law of the land. It is not acceptable. It is against the law to smash property and behave in that way, to attack police officers.”
