They hit her: Rioters struck Camilla with a stick
ARMED bodyguards were “ready to open fire” as the Duchess of Cornwall was physically attacked at the height of the student riot, it emerged last night.
The SAS-trained police marksmen, carrying 9mm Glock semi-automatic pistols, were “within an ace” of drawing their guns as a snarling anarchist rammed a stick into Camilla’s ribs as Prince Charles, sitting beside her, looked on in disbelief.
In the biggest royal security breach in decades, the yob was able to get at the Duchess through an open window of the Rolls-Royce limousine. The car had somehow became separated from police escort vehicles as a mob swarmed around it in London’s Regent Street.
Prince Charles and Camilla hold hands in the car after students attacked them on their way to the Royal Variety Performance
Around 20 rioters, who went on a wrecking spree in central London as MPs voted on tuition fees, surrounded the car, which was bound for the London Palladium, screaming: “Off with their heads!” and “Tory scum!” as bodyguards battled to regain control of the situation.
The two police officers in the front of the limousine, both armed, watched the thugs kick the vehicle, crack a window and throw paint over the bodywork.
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One of the thugs forced a stick, believed to be part of a protest placard, through an open window, which the royal couple had briefly lowered to try to speak to their assailants to pacify them.
The bodyguards were said to be moments away from pulling their triggers, but the police driver managed to accelerate away just in time.
Camilla was said to be “very scared” by the attack and luckily unharmed, but urgent questions were being asked last night as to how a protester managed to attack the heir to the throne’s wife.
As an inquest into the massive security failure began, Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson hinted at how close the Royal Protection Branch officers had come to drawing their weapons.
Students rioted in Westminster during the crucial fees vote
“I do think that the officers who were protecting their Royal Highnesses showed very real restraint – some of those officers were armed,” he said.
“Their priority was to get that car to the point of safety, which was the venue, and that was achieved, but it was a hugely shocking incident.”
A police source said: “The protection officers with their Royal Highnesses came within an ace of drawing their guns and, perhaps, even firing them.
“But they would never have been in that position if they had not made a mad dash to get to the theatre on time in an official car with large, clear windows.
“They didn’t need a detailed intelligence report from headquarters to see what was going on. All they had to do was to look at the TV news.”
Alex Bomberg, a former aide to the Royal Family and current chief executive of a security firm, said: “You can’t blame the royal protection squad for a bunch of anarchists’ bad behaviour.
“But you can blame someone for not doing their job correctly and not understanding the situation as it was unfolding. Someone’s head should bloody roll.”
Prime Minister David Cameron said he was “very concerned” at the attack and immediately rang both Sir Paul and the Prince of Wales’s private secretary.
Mr Cameron said: “This was not the fault of the police. This was the fault of the people who tried to smash up that car.”
Police sources said the Duchess had not made a complaint about being attacked with the stick and was said to be “fine” yesterday.
Last night Scotland Yard announced a major criminal probe into the disorder. It will cover the attack on the royal car.
A spokesman said: “It is being led by a detective chief superintendent with oversight from the Association of Chief Police Officers.
“It will focus on all of the circumstances behind the violent disorder and look to identify those responsible.”
The spokesman added: “While a large majority of protesters came to demonstrate peacefully, a significant number came intent on violence.
“This will not be tolerated and anyone identified as being actively involved in criminality at the student protests will be prosecuted.”
A Clarence House spokesman said that they would not be discussing the details of the event, but stressed that the royal couple were not injured and did not seek medical help.
Yesterday, Charles and Camilla paid tribute to their police bodyguards as the head of royal security, Commander Peter Loughborough, faced a series of searching questions.
They included: why drive through streets when riot police are struggling to keep control of a swarming mass of violent protesters?
And why carry the royal couple in an easily recognisable official limo with huge, clear-glassed windows when they could have switched to a more ordinary-looking vehicle with tinted windows?
Scotland Yard chief Sir Paul said he had been informed the route to the theatre had been recced. He added: “It was a very shocking incident but minutes beforehand that route was clear.”
A total of 33 people were arrested during the riots, 12 police officers were hurt and six needed hospital treatment.
Around 40 protesters were injured and 36 were treated in hospital.
