King Charles III and his wife Queen Consort Camilla narrowly avoided being hit by eggs thrown at them while on a visit to northern England on Wednesday, prompting an arrest.
Monarch, 73, and Camilla, 75, were attacked with three eggs that landed near them during a walkabout in York before being led away by minders.
As the incident unfolded, a man was heard shouting “This country was built on the blood of slaves” and “Not my king” before being arrested by several police officers, broadcast footage showed.
According to reporters present, the protester also booed the royal couple before appearing to throw the balls at them.
Other people in the crowd, gathered for the visit to the historic Micklegate Bar, began chanting “God save the King” and “Shame on you” to the protester.
Charles and Camilla continued with a traditional ceremony to officially welcome the sovereign to the historic city by his Lord Mayor while police took the alleged perpetrator into custody.
“A 23-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of a public order offence,” North Yorkshire Police said in a statement. “He is currently in police custody.”
British media called him a former Green Party candidate and activist for the environmental protest group Extinction Rebellion.
– ‘Be open’ –
The royals were in York to attend the unveiling of a statue of Charles’ mother Queen Elizabeth II, the first to be erected since her death on September 8.
The new king, who ascended the throne immediately that day, did not mention the incident when he later gave a short speech.
On Tuesday, Charles met artists in another Yorkshire town, Leeds, who had taken part in a project examining Britain’s role in slavery – and said he was open to discussing the issue.
“He’s willing to have those conversations and see what work can be done,” Fiona Compton, a St. Lucian artist and historian who knows the monarch and was involved with the project, told reporters afterwards.
“He agrees, this is British history, it shouldn’t be hidden.
“As we talk about the Holocaust, we should be open to talking about Britain’s involvement in the slave trade,” added Compton, whose father was Prime Minister of St. Lucia.
– Excuse me –
The issue has increasingly confronted the royal family as growing republican movements in Commonwealth countries headed by the British monarch are calling on the crown to apologize for the slave trade and atone for colonization.
During a tour of the Caribbean by the king’s eldest son, Prince William, earlier this year, he faced protests over past royal links to slavery, calls for reparations and rising republican sentiment.
Charles’ youngest brother, Prince Edward, experienced similar protests and canceled a leg to Grenada after pro-Republican protests there.
Domestically, Charles is less popular than his late mother, who maintained highly positive reviews throughout her record-breaking seven-decade reign.
The latest YouGov poll found that 44 percent of adults had a positive opinion of him, compared to nearly three-quarters of Queen Elizabeth II.
Despite decades of campaigning for the environment, climate activists smeared chocolate cake over a waxwork model of Charles at London’s Madame Tussauds museum.
During the national mourning for the queen in September, republican movements said anti-monarchist views had been drowned out.
There was criticism of the police’s handling of protesters, which publicly questioned the hereditary principle of Charles’s inauguration.
Meanwhile in London on Wednesday, a man “fixated” on entering royal grounds was spared from prison after entering Buckingham Palace twice last year.
Daniel Brydges, 33, has been sentenced to 12 weeks in prison suspended for 18 months after previously pleading guilty to two counts of trespassing on a protected area and criminal damage to property.
