A woman was arrested in Edinburgh, Scotland, for holding up an anti-monarchy sign at a public proclamation to announce the accession of King Charles to the throne.
Protesters were also heard booing during the declaration and calling for a republic.
The sign held by the 22-year-old woman read, “F–k Imperialism! Abolish Monarchy,” and appeared just before the ceremony began Sunday at the Mercat Cross on the city’s Royal Mile, Edinburgh Evening News reported.
Members of the crowd applauded as the police escorted the woman away while one man shouted: “Let her go, it’s free speech.”
“Have some respect,” others yelled.
Police said the woman was arrested “in connection with a breach of the peace.”
“A 22-year-old woman was arrested outside St. Giles’ Cathedral, Edinburgh on Sunday, 11 September, 2022 in connection with a breach of the peace,” a Scotland police spokesperson said.
Lord Lyon King of Arms read the address to the crowd at Mercat Cross in light of King Charles being confirmed as the new monarch at a Saturday ceremony at St James’s Palace.
At the end of the proclamation, the Lord Lyon King of Arms said, “God save the King.”
Most attendees gave the official response of “God save the King” in return, but boos could be heard from the crowd as well.
Protesters were heard calling for a republic after the crowd sang the national anthem.
The group, Our Republic, which is campaigning for a Scottish republic, said on Twitter that they were detained on suspicion of “breach of the peace” but were not charged. They were eventually released, according to The Herald.
Some believed the protesters were being “disrespectful” for choosing the proclamation to voice their demand for a republic, Edinburgh Live reported.
“I believe everyone does have a right to protest, but I thought it was the wrong place at the wrong time,” said 48-year-old Helen Smith, according to the outlet.
“(It was) incredibly disrespectful to the event that we were just seeing,” the engineer from Livingston added.
“We saw the police keeping an eye on things behind us, and we thought something was going to kick off, and it did,” she continued. “We just felt disappointed because the eyes of the world are on us at the moment.
“It’s a massive moment in history,” Smith went on to say. “We’ve had the death of the longest-serving monarch we’ve ever had, we’ve got the new King being proclaimed, and then we have the heckling at the back and the shouting.”
Ann Hamilton, 48, said the interruptions during the ceremony were “terrible.”
“There’s tens of thousands of people here today to show their respect,” Hamilton reportedly said. “For them to be here, heckling through things, I think it was terrible. If they were so against it, they shouldn’t have come.”
