A man shouting at the funeral procession of the late Queen Elizabeth II was thrown to the ground by other members of the public, with the fracas covered by shouts of “God Save the King” at the otherwise silent procession.
Escorted by soldiers and members of The Royal Company of Archers, and followed by her children — King Charles III, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew, and Prince Edward — on foot, the casket of Queen Elizabeth II travelled from the Palace of Holyroodhouse to the High Kirk of the Church of Scotland on Monday afternoon. The Queen’s body will ‘lie at rest’ at the Scottish cathedral for 24 hours before being moved to London to lie in state.
While the procession proceeded mainly in silence, as the cortege wound its way along the narrow, medieval street of the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, a protester made his voice heard, shouting “you’re a sick old man” at Prince Andrew as the hearse passed.
Prince Andrew has been stripped of most of his royal rank and privileges over his association with sex predator Jeffrey Epstein. No wrongdoing has been proven in Andrew’s own case, but there is no doubt a cloud of suspicion hangs over him and he is rarely seen in public at the moment.
Yet while the protester may have valid concerns over Prince Andrew, some clearly felt shouting them during a funeral procession was not appropriate, and the sole voice at the until-then silent procession was drowned out by shouts of ‘God Save the King’, eyewitnesses said.
Shortly afterwards, angered members of the crowd were seen — in a moment that was also caught on national television — to be bodily throwing the protester to the ground, away from the funeral procession. Moments later, the police intervened, pulling the protester out of the fracas.
Speaking to Breitbart News, Amanda Brown, who watched the scene unfold from a window above, said of the moment: “during an otherwise respectful and sombre occasion, it was briefly marred by the action of a protestor who shouted ‘Andrew, you’re a disgusting old man’. He was instantly yanked back by members of the crowd.
“In response, people at street level and in the buildings above drowned him out with cries of ‘God Save the King, Long Live the King’.”
Chase Coffin-Roggeveen was also a witness to the disturbance. He told Breitbart: “As the Queen went past the crowd went very silent. The only sound was some dogs barking. Then, a man shouted at Prince Andrew calling him a ‘nonce’. But he was shouted down by louder cheers from the rest of the crowd singing ‘God Save the King’.”
The procession was otherwise without incident.
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