Police monitor net for anti-royalty sites

Police officers are monitoring anti-monarchy websites as part of an unprecedented security operation to prevent the wedding of the Prince of Wales and Camilla Parker Bowles being disrupted by demonstrators.

As more than 200 officers prepare to patrol the streets outside the Guildhall in Windsor for the civil proceedings on 8 April, websites are being scrutinised by detectives for information about any planned demonstrations.

The disclosure follows internet activity by a number of anti-monarchy groups detailing plans to try to disrupt the wedding, including one proposal to evade the police by launching a "spectacular" protest outside Windsor Castle this week.

On one internet forum dedicated to protest groups around the world, an individual calling himself "Red Republican" urges fellow anti-monarchists to "Storm the Castle: April 2", six days before the nuptials at the Guildhall. The castle will be open to visitors on Saturday, but closed on the day of the wedding.

"Windsor on 8 April will be impossible to get to, so gather at Windsor on the Saturday before at 1pm," the message reads.

"Action could include march on the castle/rally outside the walls - inside be better/Stop the City type action/or any imaginative actions you can think. Designs for stickers welcome - spread the word."

Police are also monitoring the website of Movement Against the Monarchy (Ma'm), another protest group, which says "a good-humoured set of demonstrations are planned for Saturday 2 April and Friday 8 April."

Craig Myson, 32, the group's spokesman, refused to reveal details of the protest, but said: "The marriage is going to reopen the Diana wound. Having a monarch who talks to plants has been problematic for a lot of people for a long time and getting Camilla on board is just beyond the pale, really.

"What happens on the wedding day is just going to be a skirmish in a longer war. The ongoing stuff is preventing Charles and Camilla becoming king and queen. We are trying to build a republican campaign and part of that is getting in the way of any plans and spoiling their big day out."

On 4 April, the British band Conflict, with a number of other groups, is releasing a single called "Better Dead than Wed", which they will play at concert in Croydon to "celebrate the royal wedding" on the eve of the event.

Security for the royal wedding is being handled in a joint operation by Thames Valley police and the Metropolitan police. A spokeswoman for Thames Valley said of the plans to storm the castle: "Any unlawful activity will be dealt with appropriately."

As for plans to disrupt the day itself, she added: "We will be facilitating any protesters that do attend to ensure that there is lawful and peaceful protest."

Protesters will be hard- pushed to make their mark during the ceremony itself. While the law requires that register offices open their doors to the public, the wedding party and their guests will occupy all the spaces. Public discontent has followed the marriage plans since they were announced.

Eleven official objections were made to the Registrar General, Len Cook, who dismissed them earlier this month, saying: "I am satisfied none of these objections should obstruct the issue of a marriage certificate."

While protesters gather in Windsor on 8 April, hundreds more are expected to turn up at Kensington Palace as a mark of solidarity with the "third person" in the marriage.

Armed with a bunch of white lilies, the favourite flower of Diana, Princess of Wales, Pat Shelton, 61, and her 96-year-old mother Ella Clark will be at the gates by 9.30am, having risen at 4.30am to get there.

Both are members of the Diana Circle, established in 2001 to keep the memory of the late princess alive. The group, which has about 1,000 members, has dubbed the day Black Friday.

Mrs Shelton, a retired ballet teacher from Nuneaton, said: "I just feel that Prince Charles treated Diana so badly. I know she wasn't whiter than white, but if you put yourself in her place, knowing her marriage really was a sham and her husband was having an affair right the way through it, it must have been really dreadful for her."

Joining them at Kensington Palace will be Margaret Funnell, 70, a founder member of the Diana Circle, who said: "There is a lot of animosity about this wedding and a lot of opposition. It's not a love story. I think it's a tragedy. It cost that girl [Diana] her life because she wouldn't have been in the Alma tunnel with anyone. She would have been with her husband."

- Independent