The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on wedding day PIC: John Stillwell/PA

Police did not ‘crush anti-royal protest’ with Minority Report Royal wedding tactics

Wednesday, July 18, 2012
12:19 PM

Royal wedding protesters who accused police of crushing “anti-monarchy sentiment” during Prince William and Kate Middleton’s nuptials, have lost a High Court battle.

Twenty people claimed they were unlawfully searched or arrested by officers before or during the marriage ceremony in London.

They said the tactics amounted an pre-emptive policy – akin to the film Minority Report; where crimes are detected before they happen in a dystopian state.

But two judges ruled today that the Metropolitan Police acted within their powers.

Lord Justice Richards and Mr Justice Openshaw, sitting in London, dismissed applications for judicial review.

“We find nothing in the various strands of the claimants’ case, whether taken individually or cumulatively, to make good the contention that the policing of the royal wedding involved an unlawful policy or practice, with an impermissibly low threshold of tolerance for public protests.”