Man charged with heckling Duke of York amid entourage avoids court
A man charged with breach of the peace after the Duke of York was allegedly heckled as he walked behind the Queen’s coffin will not face court, prosecutors have said.
The 22-year-old was arrested after the incident, which occurred as Andrew walked in the procession as it made its way from the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh to St Giles’ Cathedral on September 12. The Crown Office said the case has been dealt with “by way of an offer of an alternative to prosecution”.
A spokesman said :“the procurator fiscal received a report concerning a 22-year-old male in connection with an alleged incident on september 12,2022. After full and careful consideration of all facts and circumstances, the case was dealt with by way of an offer of an alternative to prosecution.”
Alternatives to prosecution can include warnings, work orders, fine sand compensation orders. However, the Crown Office said it could not say what alternative was used in this case.
The incident happened around 2.50 pm as the late monarch’ s four children, including the Duke of York, followed the state hearse, up the Royal Mile to St Giles’ Cathedral.
The22-year-oldhadappeared to heckle the Duke of York. Two men, both aged 34, allegedly pulled him to the ground.
Those two men were later charged over the alleged attack on the heckler.
Prosecutors also said no action will be taken at this time against a woman who held an anti-monarchy sign ahead of the accession proclamation of King Charles III in Edinburgh. The 22-year-old was arrested outside St Giles’ Cathedral on September 11.
The Crown Office said: “The procurator fiscal received a report relating to a 22-year-old female and an incident said to have occurred on September 11, 2022. After careful consideration of the facts and circumstances of the case, including the available admissible evidence, the procurator fiscal decided that there should be no proceedings taken at this time.
“The crown reserves the right to proceed in the future if it is appropriate and in the public interest to do so.”
The decisions comes after Downing Street defended the right of republican protesters to voice dissent about the monarchy after a string of interventions from police to stop demonstrators.