The Buckingham Palace incident has sparked fears over safety at the upcoming coronation, it has been reported.
The palace experienced a security scare yesterday (Tuesday, May 2) after a man was arrested for throwing shotgun cartridges into the grounds.
Buckingham Palace security incident
Yesterday saw a security incident take place outside Buckingham Palace. A man was arrested after throwing what were thought to be shotgun cartridges onto the grounds of the palace.
A precautionary controlled explosion was carried out outside the palace, the Met Police confirmed. Officers went on to say that the man was in possession of a knife. However, he did not have a gun on him.
The man had allegedly approached the gates, thrown the objects over, and then been arrested at 7pm yesterday. The items have since been recovered and will be taken for “specialist examination”, police confirmed.
The incident is not being treated as a terror attack at present. Instead, it is being treated as an isolated mental health incident.
Buckingham Palace confirmed that neither the King or Queen Consort were at the palace during the incident.
Buckingham Palace incident sparks security fears
However, the incident has now sparked fears over security at the coronation. Security for the historic event is estimated to cost around £150m.
A witness spoke to The Sun about the incident – and highlighted fears over security at the coronation.
“He was in his 30s. He’s been here the last few nights shouting, ‘I’m going to kill the King!’,” they alleged.
“As soon as he placed the bag on the ground the police jumped on him. They were shouting at him, ‘Get down on the floor!’,” they then claimed.
“How on Earth was he allowed to get so close to the Palace with the coronation almost upon us?” they then asked.
Following the incident, a full coronation rehearsal went ahead as planned last night.
King Charles to spark backlash over ‘tone deaf’ pledge of allegiance
In other coronation-related news, the King has risked sparking backlash with the invitation to pledge allegiance to him.
The public have been invited to pledge allegiance to the King during the coronation on Saturday (May 6). However, the invitation hasn’t gone down well with some.
PR expert and CEO of UnlockdPR, Jordan James, spoke exclusively to ED! about the invitation.
“I think this move is good in terms of PR for the new King. But I still think it will be open to backlash,” he said.
“It could be seen as a tone-deaf, out-of-touch call in a modern, democratic nation. This gesture, while well-intended, could easily be seen as patronising, and even unnecessary in modern Britain.”
He then continued, saying: “It might have been a far better idea for Charles to pledge his allegiance to the people, not the other way around.”
Read more: Real reason Meghan’s absence at coronation is ‘important move’ for Prince Harry?
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