EXCLUSIVE: Republicans targeting Charles'
coronation vow to launch protests against Prince William next - and even Prince
George when the nine-year-old eventually marries
Graham Smith, CEO of Republic, said anti-monarchist
protests would continue
By
MADELEINE ROSS
PUBLISHED:
10:25, 20 April 2023 | UPDATED: 17:05, 20 April 2023
Strident
anti-monarchists planning to disrupt the coronation with a 'sea of yellow
T-shirts' have vowed to continue their protests after May 6 - and will extend
their demonstrations to include Prince William's events.
Graham
Smith, CEO of Republic, said at an republican speaker event in West Kilburn in
London on Wednesday night that the group will continue to protest the King even
after the coronation.
He added
that anti-monarchists were using the coronation as a spring board as the last
major royal event in the foreseeable future, until the next crowning or the
wedding of Prince George.
Republic, a
leading anti-monarchy campaign group, will stage a protest on the ceremonial
procession route on May 6, and is calling on thousands to descend on the event
wearing yellow T-shirts.
Also
speaking was Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, an outspoken critic of the monarchy, who
returned the OBE she was awarded in 2001, and said she had become a Republican
as a result of her experiences with the Windsors and during the 1953
coronation.
Graham
Smith (pictured), CEO of Republic, said the coronation would be a launchpad for
future bigger protests
He said the
campaign group would extend its protests to Prince William after the coronation
and even Prince George when he's older
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.
'So we’re
going to follow Charles where he’s going and we’ll probably extend that to
William.
'We’re
going to sit down and think about what’s next because this is the last big
major event for quite some time, probably 25 years.
'The next
one will be Prince George [getting married] and he’s only nine. So it’s either
his wedding or the next coronation.
'It's going
to be a launchpad for bigger things. I think a lot more people are going to
know about us and engage with us. We are already seeing a massive increase in
income and a lot more interest. It's going to be a game-changer.'
He said of
the group's coronation plans: 'Lots of placards, some big flags and banners.
We’re looking at music, we’ve got amplifiers. We’re going to try and keep it
fairly light-hearted.
'There will
be some annoyed people - and annoying people - but we had that in York and
Colchester and it’s a minority.
'For most
people it’s just a part of the event really and they’ll probably try and find
somewhere else to stand to avoid looking at our banners!'
The
anti-monarchist CEO added that despite concerns that police had been profiling
potential demonstrators, it was not true and that his organisation have a
'good' relationship with the police.
'They
haven’t arrested us and they did that after the Queen died but it was
individual officers who got it badly wrong and we have had meetings with the
police.
'I spoke to
them again this morning because we followed up on this report recently about
them profiling us.
'And they
said it’s not true and basically they don’t have any concerns about our
protests at all but they will certainly be there and there will be a line of
them along the barricade just in front of us.
'Because
also they don’t know who else is going to turn up and do something silly, which
we don’t want, either, we’re not interested in that. Our relationship with them
has always been pretty good.'
On
Republic's 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.
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'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.
'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: Why We Should And How We'll Do
It, which will be published in early June.
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