King Charles’ coronation: Police held royalist in a cell for 13 hours after mistaking her for activist

Chambers says it took the police 10 hours to listen to her and realise their mistake.

A supporter of the Royal family has said she was arrested and held for 13 hours during the Coronation because she happened to be standing near Just Stop Oil protesters.

Alice Chambers said she had no idea she was standing next to the activists because they had not yet begun the demonstration that they carried out on the Mall on Saturday.

The 36-year-old architect suddenly found herself being arrested after Metropolitan Police officers burst into the crowd and began handcuffing people, she told the i newspaper.

Chambers, who is Australian but has lived in London for seven years, said she was told at around 9am that she was being arrested on suspicion of “potential to cause a breach of the peace” alongside around a dozen other people.

She told the i: “I was just sitting on my little stool and I noticed there was some yelling and then some police swooped in and were pushing the crowd back.

“I must have been right on the edge of that. I went to get up and two police officers just grabbed me and handcuffed me. I don’t think they said anything, I think they arrested me before they asked a question.

“I feel like once I was in the system they didn’t listen – I tried to explain that I wasn’t part of the group.”

Over 13 hours, Chambers was held in a cell, subjected to physical searches and had her DNA, fingerprints and photograph taken before the Met realised she was a bystander.

“I think the only question they asked me was: ‘Why were you on the Mall?’,” she added.

She said it was not until she was interviewed at 7pm, more than 10 hours since her arrest, that police officers acknowledged their mistake.

“They looked at each other and then they asked ‘have you ever heard of Just Stop Oil?’ I said, ‘Up until today no.’ They said we have no further questions and we’re really sorry you’ve been caught up in this.

“That was the point I started crying and got emotional – that was the first time anyone had been able to listen to my side of the story.

“I asked them, ‘Was there anything I could have done that would have meant I didn’t end up here?’”

It was a further two and a half hours before she was able to leave Wandsworth Police Station at 10pm to return home.

A spokesman for the Met Police said: “We are aware that a woman was arrested in relation to a protest on 6 May 2023.

“The arresting officer was from Lincolnshire Police and the complaint has therefore been passed to the relevant force to investigate. The Met will assist by providing any relevant information they require.”