Royal fan was arrested 'for standing next to Just Stop Oil protesters'

Royal superfan was arrested and locked up for 13 hours ‘for standing next to Just Stop Oil protesters’ on The Mall for the Coronation

• Alice Chambers was cuffed on suspicion of ‘potential to cause breach of peace’
• The 36-year-old was quizzed, physically searched and kept in a cell for hours 

A Royal superfan was arrested and locked up for 13 hours after standing next to Just Stop Oil protesters ahead of the King’s coronation, it was claimed today.

Alice Chambers, originally from Australia but now living in London, travelled alone to The Mall in the hope of catching a glimpse of Charles on the day he was formally crowned.

The architect, 36, said she had no idea she was sitting beside the environmental activists as they had not yet begun their planned protest.

As police swarmed on the group at 9am on Saturday, Ms Chambers found herself being handcuffed too.

She was told she was being arrested on suspicion of ‘potential to cause a breach of the peace’ as the group was detained in scenes caught on camera by Sky News.

Royal superfan Alice Chambers was arrested and locked up for 13 hours after standing next to Just Stop Oil protesters ahead of the King’s coronation

‘They arrested me before they asked a question,’ Ms Chambers told inews.

READ MORE: Met Police chief says officers targeted a ‘criminal network’ during coronation 

‘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.’

She was repeatedly quizzed, physically searched, locked in a cell and officers took her mugshot, fingerprints and DNA in a 13-hour ordeal.

It wasn’t until she was interviewed by two senior officers at 7pm that police finally realised they had made a mistake and that she was an innocent bystander.

She was finally released at around 10pm from Wandsworth police station after breaking down in tears. 

Ms Chambers, who has made a complaint to the force and the police watchdog, added: ‘I understand why the police were on the edge, they did have a tough job that day.

‘But they need to have better processes and better training in place because innocent people shouldn’t be getting locked up for that long.’

It comes after the police faced a huge backlash over the arrests and treatment of various protesters during the Coronation celebrations.

Met Police chief Sir Mark Rowley said his officers had to target a ‘criminal network’ aiming to disrupt the coronation, with people posing as stewards caught with bottles of paint they intended to throw at the parade. 

The Commissioner said police received ‘serious and reliable’ intelligence that activists planned to use rape alarms and loud hailers to disrupt the event, ‘extensively vandalise monuments’ and ‘throw paint at the procession’.

Writing in the Evening Standard, Sir Mark said that officers were so concerned about the risks that the Home Secretary and Mayor of London Sadiq Khan were briefed on Friday night.

Ms Chambers (pictured outside Buckingham Palace in 2017) has lodged complaints over the arrest

READ MORE: Angry royal fans drown out Just Stop Oil protesters by singing ‘God Save the King’ 

Volunteers for charity Night Star, that hands out rape alarms to women on their way home from nights out, were arrested in the early hours of Saturday in Soho in central London.

Six campaigners for the group Republic, which had liaised with the Met to organise a coronation day protest in Trafalgar Square, were also arrested early on Saturday on suspicion of going equipped to lock-on, but were released 16 hours later without charge.

Sir Mark described the arrests as ‘unfortunate’, but blasted ‘ill-informed commentary’ about how police had behaved. 

A spokesperson for the Met Police said: ‘We are aware that a woman was arrested in relation to a protest on May 6, 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.’

Chief Inspector Simon Outen, Professional Standards Department, Lincolnshire Police, told MailOnline: ‘Our officers were in central London providing mutual aid support to colleagues in the Met on Saturday 6 May, and during that time, a woman in her 30s was arrested in connection with a Just Stop Oil protest. 

‘She was subsequently released with no further action. 

‘We have now received a complaint and are reviewing the incident. We are in contact with the complainant to establish the full details of her allegations.’ 

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