Anti-monarchists planning their biggest-ever protest for King Charles’ coronation day say they won’t copy Extinction Rebellion tactics that don’t ‘help the cause’
- An anti-monarchist campaign is encouraging people to protest at Coronation
- Chief executive of Republic said more than 1,350 have pledged to gather
- But Graham Smith said they won’t copy XR activists who are ‘not a good look’
The anti-monarchists planning to protest King Charles’ coronation say they will not copy Extinction Rebellion’s stunts – because they don’t ‘help the cause’.
Graham Smith, chief executive of Republic, said more than 1,350 activists have pledged to gather in London.
They will chant ‘Not my King’, wear yellow T-shirts, boo loudly and carry yellow placards in groups along the procession route and also gather for a major demonstration in Trafalgar Square on May 6.
And the 48-year-old has vowed to make the peaceful demonstration unmissable and loud – but told The Times that they were not staging any Extinction Rebellion-style demos because ‘it’s not a good look’.
Last week militant activists from Animal Rising stormed the Grand National, while on Monday a Just Stop Oil protestor forced a World Championship snooker match to be cancelled after leaping on the table and throwing orange powder over the baize.
Graham Smith, the chief executive of Republic, speaks during a protest prior to the Commonwealth Service outside Westminster Abbey in London on March 13
Just Stop Oil protester Edred Whittingham, a 25-year-old Philosophy, Politics and Economics student at Exeter University, tossed orange powder over a snooker table during the World Championship before being dragged away
Handcuffed Animal Rising activists are guarded by police officers during the Grand National at Aintree
And now the London Marathon’s organisers have urged spectators to watch the race from home – amid fears that as many as 30,000 of the group could be on the streets as part of a four-day demonstration.
Protetors for Republic will gather early in the morning of the coronation so they can get close to the procession.
READ MORE: The anti-monarchy activist and his Republican group picketing Charles’ engagements
They will also have megaphones and a microphone attached to an amplifier to make sure their voice will be heard.
Mr Smith has branded the crowning of Charles and the Queen Consort a ‘pointless piece of theatre’ which will cost tens of millions of pounds and be a ‘slap in the face’ for people struggling with the cost-of-living crisis.
He said: ‘Anti-monarchy protests will carry one simple message: Do you want Charles or do you want a choice?’
The campaigners have written to every police force in the UK including the Metropolitan Police asking for reassurances they will not interfere in ‘peaceful and meaningful’ protests against the monarchy.
Protesters have already targeted Charles at recent public appearances, with their ‘Not my King’ signs and shouts of ‘Why are you wasting money on a coronation Charles?’.
The group is asking people to sign a pledge to protest and add their voices to their call for the UK to become a republic and have an elected head of state.
Charles and Camilla arrived at York Minster for a Maundy Thursday Service as anti-monarchy activists staged a protest
A protester in York wearing a mask of King Charles with ‘not my king’ daubed across it in red and black paint
‘On Saturday 6th May the eyes of the world will be on the coronation,’ its website says. ‘This is the moment we make our objection loud, visible and impossible to ignore.’
The anti-monarchist plot to disrupt King Charles’s Coronation next month was revealed by MailOnline today.
Republic, a group which has openly called for the abolition of the monarchy and to replace it with an elected head of state, is planning a demonstration along The Mall on May 6.
On their website, the protesters are calling on thousands to don yellow T-shirts and wave placards reading ‘Not My King’ at a gathering in Trafalgar Square from 6am, before moving to the procession route between Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey later that morning.
The group is led by Graham Smith, an activist who has accused the BBC of breaching impartiality in its coverage of the Royal Family.
Protests against the Coronation are being planned across the UK. In Cardiff, the Not My King protest, organised by Campaign for a Welsh Republic, plans to meet at the Aneurin Bevan statue at 12.30pm, to march to Bute Park. The demonstration will be followed by what the group describes as a ‘BIG REPUBLICAN LUNCH’.
In Scotland, a march for independence is planned to run concurrently with the Coronation in Glasgow. A simultaneous protest will be held in Edinburgh at the National Monument of Scotland, with more than 250 people already saying they are interested in going.
Republic has issued this map to reveal where it will be demonstrating in London on May 6
Republic has produced this publicity image to encourage people to join its protest on May 6
The republican group claims to have the support of more than 80,000 people
Republic’s website states: ‘On Saturday 6th May the eyes of the world will be on the Coronation. This is the moment we make our objection loud, visible and impossible to ignore.
Meet three of the team involved in Republic
GRAHAM SMITH, chief executive
Graham Smith, 48, is possibly the most well-known republican in Britain, and he has campaigned against the monarchy for 20 years. His group, Republic, was set up in 1983 but has gained momentum and supporters in recent years after being formally set up as a limited company in 2006. He recently labelled King Charles as ‘just a bloke in a suit who’s spending lots of our money’ but admitted heckling the Queen ‘wouldn’t have gone down well’. The Daily Beast once described Mr Smith as ‘the most successful British republican since Oliver Cromwell’.
GULLY BUJAK, protest organiser
Gully Bujak is an experienced climate change protest organiser who has been convicted of criminal acts during Extinction Rebellion eco protests. She is also a privately-educated model and actress and former junior head girl at Stover School in Devon – where her father used to be headmaster.
BEN CLINTON
Ben Clinton is campaign co-ordinator for ‘Labour for a Republic’, a republican pressure group within the Labour Party. He has previously written for the Morning Star and is a councillor on the parish council in Peasmarsh, East Sussex. He also spoke in favour of proportional representation at the Labour Party conference in 2021.
‘Pledge to add your voice to the call for a republic.’
Potential anti-monarchist demonstrators are instructed to create a ‘sea of yellow’ with £14.99 branded T-shirts and placards reading ‘Not My King’. A yellow unisex hoodie is available for £41.99.
The demonstrators plan to protest near the King Charles I statue in the middle of the Trafalgar Square roundabout.
Mr Smith is the author of a new book, Abolish The Monarchy, which will be published in early June.
SNP leader and First Minister Hamza Yousaf said during the recent leadership contest that Scotland could switch to an elected head of state ‘within the first five years’ of independence.
He added during a discussion about Prince Edward’s recent promotion to Duke of Edinburgh that: ‘I view myself as a citizen first and foremost, not a slave.’
Speaking last month, Mr Smith said that Charles should be criticised like any other politician.
But in an attempt to explain why the group was organising more protests against the King than his late mother, he admitted: ‘The Queen enjoyed deference and it put people off criticising her directly. We were aware heckling her wouldn’t go down well.’
Mr Smith previously told MailOnline: ‘Charles is a very different person. He just inherited the throne and inheritance is an issue.
‘We think now is the right moment for us to push our message. We did protest the Queen, such as at the 2012 [Diamond] Jubilee.
‘Other people certainly had a greater level of respect for the Queen. The Queen enjoyed deference and it put people off criticising her directly. We were aware heckling her wouldn’t go down well.
‘But everything has changed, it’s a very different monarchy. This has changed the nature of the campaign.’
The group believe hereditary public office goes against every democratic principle and ultimately want to abolish the monarchy.
Instead, they want a head of state that is chosen by the public and keeps politicians in check.
Mr Smith continued: ‘If you think politicians are fair game for heckling and protests, you should see Charles in the same way. The Queen felt like the real deal. Charles is just a bloke in a suit who’s spending lots of our money.
‘He should be treated like a politician. Heads of state should be fair game for criticism.’
Republic and the Metropolitan Police were contacted by MailOnline for comment yesterday.
Ben Clinton, campaign coordinator for a Republic, attends a protest outside Westminster Abbey on March 13
Protesters from Republic hold up signs saying Not My King outside Westminster Abbey on March 13
Source: Read Full Article