LONDON, United Kingdom – The Metropolitan Police made 52 arrests on a rainy Saturday, May 6, for the coronation of Britain’s new monarch, King Charles III, a historic event that last happened in the country seven decades ago when the young Elizabeth ascended to the throne in 1953.
Among those arrested were six leaders of the anti-monarchy group ‘Republic,’ who were still being held in custody as of late Saturday night London time.
The UK government passed new laws just days before the coronation to crack down on dissent, which include prison sentences for protesters who would block roads, and new powers for police to search protesters suspected of causing disruptions. Warnings were sent to anti-monarchy groups before Saturday, but a defiant rally was still held on Trafalgar Square which is part of Charles’ procession route.
In a statement, the Metropolitan Police said “we received information protesters were determined to disrupt the Coronation procession.” British human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell said on Twitter “this morning even before the protests began, all the key organizers of Republic were arrested, all Republic official placards were confiscated, the police went into the crowd photographing innocent citizens who had committed no crime.” Tatchell said the police were able to mount barriers so the King would not be able to see the protests when he traveled from Buckingham Palace to the Westminster Abbey.
Still, the protests were able to snake through the streets of Central London, filling the air with chants of “abolish the monarchy,” and “not my king.”
Lee Figures, who traveled from Stratford-Upon-Avon to London despite the rain to see the King’s coronation, said she has never seen protests like this in any of the royal events she’s attended in her life. “I’ve never been before that there was any protest, it was the first time that I am aware of.”
Figures, who had lived in the Philippines in the late 80s immediately after the people power revolution said, “I can somehow see things on both sides, I think people who haven’t got much money or aren’t happy with their life here, they would think the royal family have lots of money, they have all these palaces so ‘why should we help towards that?’ So I try to see it on both sides, but I don’t believe they should be saying anything rude about him in a very nasty, disparaging way.”
Charles, who has had a conflicted history with the British public, dressed down his coronation ceremony, including cutting the usual 5-mile procession route to just one mile. Other reforms he’s made included cutting down the guest list, and filling it mostly with civic leaders rather than aristocrats. Among those invited and seated in a row visible to the cameras of the Abbey was Filipino nurse Charito Romano, who was awarded during the pandemic a British Empire Medal for her work. Romano wore a blue terno to the ceremony.
Filipino nurses who had made the trek from Essex said the “rain is nothing” compared to the opportunity to pay tribute to the Monarch. “This is nothing for us, King, just to pay back what we have now, we are British citizens now, we have been here for 20 years,” said Gemma Fuentebella.
Watch the recap of Lian Buan reporting from London.
– Rappler.com
How does this make you feel?
