Activist pelts royal couple with eggs in slavery protest
THE King and Queen were yesterday pelted with eggs by a lone protester who yelled that Britain had been built “on the blood of slaves”.
The couple had just arrived at Micklegate Bar in York, to be officially welcomed to the city, and had begun greeting wellwishers when two eggs landed near their feet to a chorus of boos. Another flew close to the head of a council representative, who turned and exclaimed angrily.
The King looked down and appeared to notice the broken eggs but seemed unperturbed and continued shaking hands.
A suspect identfied as Patrick Thelwell, 23, an eco-campaigner and onetime Green Party candidate, was bundled to the ground by police as onlookers shouted “shame on you” and “God save the King.” He remained in police custody last night.
Onlookers shouted ‘shame on you’ and ‘God save the King’ as police bundled a suspect to the ground
According to an online profile, Mr Thewell, a keen gardener, was preparing to study for a PHD in interdisciplinary global development at the University of York. He is said to have been arrested after attending previous Extinction Rebellion protests.
The King and Queen Consort continued their day of engagements and at York Minster, the King unveiled a seven-foot statue of his late mother, Queen Elizabeth II, designed and carved by Richard Bossons, the cathedral’s stonemason. The monument depicts the Queen dressed in her Order of the Garter Robes and wearing the George IV diadem traditionally used for the State Opening of Parliament.
King Charles said he and his wife were “deeply touched” to have been asked to unveil the statue.
“When this statue was first planned five years ago, during a reign of unprecedented duration and achievement, it was intended as a celebration of the late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee,” he added. “Now, as we have witnessed, with great sadness, the passing of that reign, it is unveiled in her memory, as a tribute to a life of extraordinary service and devotion.” He said the statue would watch over what would become Queen Elizabeth Square for centuries – “a constant example” of duty and care for others.
The royal couple later greeted crowds in Doncaster, where they spent six minutes on an unplanned walkabout to mark the granting of its city status.
The King also told the crowds: “It is my hope that your new status will be taken not just as a mark of your community’s great achievements in the past, but also of your ambition for the future.
“Doncaster, as a town, has played its part in the life of the nation for two millennia and I know that this very special community will approach the future as a city with the same enterprise, the same resilience, and the same good old Yorkshire spirit.” The monarch also spent time chatting to resident Ben Parkinson MBE, a paratrooper who was Britain’s most severely wounded soldier to survive the Afghanistan conflict.
Mr Parkinson, 38, said afterwards: “They threw an egg in York? What a waste of an egg.”