Crowds drown out hecklers at Royal Mile proclamation
WITH republican sentiment common among the ranks of Scottish nationalists, perhaps it was unsurprising that the official proclamation of Charles III as King was not universally welcomed on the streets of Edinburgh.
But when hecklers booed a rendition of God Save the King they were soon put in their place by the overwhelming majority of the crowd that turned out to hear the historic declaration.
They drowned out the anti-monarchists with hearty cheers that reverberated around the Royal Mile and made clear that Scotland was as proud of its new King as any part of the UK.
The crowd’s cheers for the new monarch grew louder while the declarations of “God Save the King” seemed to swell in volume from both the crowd and the stone pulpit at the Mercat Cross, from which the proclamation was read.
One critic was given short shrift, with members of the crowd retorting: “Oh, shut up.” Some muttered that the hecklers should “show some respect”.
The incident happened near St Giles’ Cathedral, where the Queen’s coffin will be moved today for a service.
Ann Hamilton, 48, from Dumfries, who was in the crowd, said: “For them to be here, heckling through things, I think it was terrible.
“If they were so against it, they shouldn’t have come. Once everyone was singing God Save the King with their full voices, it was drowning them out.”
In Edinburgh, the Lord Lyon King of Arms read the proclamation of the new King at midday while in Belfast, the Norroy and Ulster King of Arms did the same at Hillsborough Castle.
Sinn Féin did not send representatives to the ceremony, with the party stating it was “intended for those whose political allegiance is to the Crown”.
In Cardiff, the proclamation was read in English and then in Welsh by Wales Herald of Arms Extraordinary, Tom Lloyd, and the Lord-lieutenant of South Glamorgan, Morfudd Meredith, at Cardiff Castle.
A second proclamation to “the people of Edinburgh” took place at the city castle shortly afterwards, along with a 21-gun military salute.
A 22-year-old woman was arrested ahead of the Royal Mile proclamation after holding aloft a sign that said: “F--imperialism, abolish monarchy.”
Police officers appeared behind her and took her away, prompting the crowd to applaud.
The proclamations followed a ceremony at St James’s Palace in London on Saturday when the King was confirmed as the new monarch before the Accession Council.