Police search for bombs under cathedral floor before 'Coronation 2.0'
Police search for bombs underneath cathedral’s floor before ‘Coronation 2.0’ in Edinburgh after anti-monarchists conspire to rebel
- A security operation ahead of King Charles’s second coronation is underway
- King will be presented with crown and sword in a second ceremony in Scotland
A huge security operation is under way to stop anti-monarchist groups wrecking King Charles’s ‘second Coronation’ in Scotland.
Amid extraordinary pageantry, the King will be presented with the oldest Crown Jewels in the UK – known as the Honours of Scotland – at a glorious ceremony in Edinburgh on Wednesday to mark his Coronation.
The Service of Dedication and Thanksgiving will also be attended by Queen Camilla and the Prince and Princess of Wales, known as the Duke and Duchess of Rothesay.
Police, however, have received intelligence reports suggesting republican protesters will attempt to disrupt the event.
The campaign group Republic has circulated a 22-page document entitled Edinburgh Protest Overview, in which it pinpoints locations for protests and explains the technicalities of the Scottish breach of the peace law.
The guide, emblazoned with the group’s slogan ‘Not My King’, also includes a section on ‘what to do if you witness an arrest’.
Amid extraordinary pageantry, the King will be presented with the oldest Crown Jewels in the UK – known as the Honours of Scotland – at a glorious ceremony in Edinburgh on Wednesday to mark his Coronation
Another group called Our Republic, which campaigns for an elected head of state, has announced its intention to hold a rally during the event. Its supporters held a demonstration at Edinburgh’s Calton Hill during last month’s Coronation. ‘As Charles claims the honours he feels entitled to, we will be the reminder that Scotland has never been asked to consent to his rule,’ the group said.
Police Scotland have stated they will take a ‘proactive engagement approach’ with protest groups but warned demonstrators to not engage in ‘abusive’ or ‘threatening’ behaviour.
Assistant Chief Constable Tim Mairs said: ‘Campaigning and demonstration is a legitimate, necessary and vital part of life.
‘Abusive, threatening behaviour or activity intended to disrupt the event that risks public safety is not a legitimate protest.’
As well as the threat from anti-monarchists, police were this weekend deploying a string of anti-terror measures.
St Giles’ Cathedral, where the service is taking place, will be closed while officials lift the floor to search for devices.
Sections of the Royal Mile, which runs from Edinburgh Castle to the Palace of Holyroodhouse – the monarch’s official Scottish residence –will be cordoned off, nearby roads closed and drones banned.
St Giles’ Cathedral, where the service is taking place, will be closed while officials lift the floor to search for devices
The centre-piece of the ceremony on Wednesday will involve the monarch being presented with a magnificent, new sword of state and the ancient Crown of Scotland
READ MORE: Coronation 2.0! Prince Harry will miss out as his father is made Scotland’s Head of State in Edinburgh – while William and Kate get a starring role
Prince Harry, who jetted in and out of the Coronation on May 6th in just 24 hours is not thought to be attending the ceremony
The centre-piece of the ceremony on Wednesday will involve the monarch being presented with a magnificent, new sword of state and the ancient Crown of Scotland.
Much of the event will mirror the Service of Dedication and Thanksgiving attended by his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, on her first visit to Scotland following her Coronation in 1953.
Despite the historic similarities, the new King has added elements that mark his affection for many aspects of Scottish life.
At Charles’s insistence, the service will include a psalm sung in Gaelic and passages in the Scots language, including part of the first Scots translation of the New Testament.
The famed Stone of Destiny is to be moved from Edinburgh Castle to the cathedral for the service, too.
The King has also turned to his old school for help celebrating the event, with three young pipers from Gordonstoun, in Moray, due to star at the ceremony.
Hamish Martindale, 16, Patrick Blair, 18, and Elspeth Spencer Jones, 18, will pipe when the Scottish Honours arrive at St Giles’.
They will play Scotland The Brave and then Bonnie Lass O Fyvie, after the school was informed that the piece, about a thwarted romance between a soldier and a girl, is a favourite of King Charles.
Thousands of well-wishers are expected to throng Edinburgh’s streets to watch the ‘People’s Procession’ ahead of the service.
The parade, between Edinburgh Castle and St Giles’ Cathedral, will start at 1.15pm and be led by Corporal Cruachan IV, The Royal Regiment of Scotland’s mascot, and supported by cadet musicians.
It will also consist of representatives from charities the Duke of Edinburgh Awards and the Prince’s Trust as well as youngsters from Girlguiding, Scouts and the Boys’ and Girls’ Brigades.
The King will leave Holyroodhouse at 2.05pm as part of a Royal Procession that will head up the Royal Mile. Republic has ordered its campaigners to ‘direct their energy at that procession and not the People’s Procession’.
The Very Reverend Professor David Fergusson, Dean of His Majesty’s Chapel Royal in Scotland, who will conduct the service at St Giles’, said: ‘It’s very much a celebration that will involve people from all around Scotland, a service of thanksgiving for what we hold in common and a service of dedication in which we will dedicate ourselves again to the common good of our country.’
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