Met Police 'will seek to learn and improve' following coronation backlash

Royal fan missed king's procession after police mistook her for a protester

Police officers arrest a man during celebrations to mark King Charles III's coronation. AFP

The Metropolitan Police commissioner has said the force “will seek to learn and improve” following criticism of its operations during the coronation.

The force was accused of adopting a heavy-handed approach after 64 people, including Just Stop Oil and anti-monarchy protesters, were arrested in the city during celebrations surrounding King Charles III’s crowning.

Alice Chambers, a royal fan from Australia, was mistaken for a Just Stop Oil demonstrator and carted off to a police van.

The 36-year-old said that when she tried to explain to police that she was a royal fan, not a disrupter, they ignore her.

After being handcuffed, fingerprinted and questioned at a police station, she was released. Police have apologised for her experience, which lasted 13 hours.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak initially said he was “grateful” to police for their handling of the coronation, despite the backlash.

Asked on Friday whether Mr Sunak still stands by his gratitude despite criticism over the detention of the royal fan, a spokesman for No 10 said: “Yes. As the Prime Minister said, it was an enormous policing effort to keep the public safe and do everything they did.”

Ms Chambers told BBC Newsnight: “I mean, it’s just been so shocking and very emotional because it’s not something you ever expect, to find yourself in a jail cell for an extended period of time.

“I think about all the things I could have done that day, all the parties I could have gone to but I chose to attend the coronation and I got to see none of it.”

Responding to questions from London Mayor Sadiq Khan, Sir Mark Rowley, the Met’s commissioner, sent a letter outlining his position.

Sir Mark said all officers involved in the coronation “deserve our wholehearted and effusive thanks” for securing the event.

“You know I have been more challenging of our need to improve than any commissioner for decades and will always call out our shortcomings,” he wrote.

“I do not see this as one of those occasions, but of course, that does not obviate the need for debrief and learning that will follow any big operation.

“No major operation is ever perfect and we will always seek to learn and improve.”