‘Anyone in crowd lining streets for royal wedding is potential terrorist’
ANYONE in the crowds lining the streets of Windsor for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding will be viewed by police as a potential terrorist, a royal security expert said yesterday.
Armed patrols, vehicle barriers and airport-style security will all be deployed as the couple wed in St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, on May 19.
The 1,000-year-old fortress is a relatively secure location, according to former Met Police commander Bob Broadhurst.
But with up to 100,000 set to descend on the Berkshire town, the newlyweds’ half-hour opentop carriage ride after the ceremony will be a tense moment.
Potential
Mr Broadhurst, who was in charge of policing the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s 2011 wedding and the London 2012 Olympics, said: “That will be the bit where the Gold Commander will be holding his breath for a while.
“It is that point where they are most vulnerable. It is impossible to search tens of thousands of people who want to come and line the streets, any one of which could be a potential terrorist, someone besotted with the Royal Family or just an attention seeker.”
Thames Valley Police has warned there will be random searches of people arriving by car and train, and in the run-up to the big day teams of officers with dogs will scour the town.
Mr Broadhurst, who retired from the force in 2013, said it was unlikely that terrorists would target the wedding itself, but with Britain on its secondhighest threat level – severe – police have to be alive to the possibility of an attack in the town centre.
“You don’t need to have spent hours or months building sophisticated bombs. You just need a kitchen knife, a gun up your jumper, or even just a hire car,” he said.
Central London could also be a target, he added. “What you don’t want is a celebratory event in Windsor and an attack of some sort in London.”
The Diana Award charity has named seven inspirational young people invited to the wedding. They include Faith Dickinson, 15, from Canada, who believes “everyone deserves a cuddle” and has made 3,000 blankets for cancer patients, injured soldiers and others.