The man accused with offences in relation to the egg throwing during the King’s last trip to York stayed away from today’s royal visit.
But he did offer his support to a small band of republicans who chanted ‘Not My King’ outside York Minster this morning.
Patrick Thelwell has pleaded not guilty to threatening behaviour relating to the incident, which saw eggs thrown towards the King and Queen Consort as they arrived at Micklegate Bar during their visit on 9 November.
He will be tried at York Magistrates’ Court on 14 April.
Mr Thelwell said: “I’m not attending the Maundy event today as I am preparing for my trial on the 14th of April, but I stand in solidarity with all the brave protesters who are braving our increasingly fascistic police state to stand against the most dangerous mafia family in the world.
“Abolishing the monarchy is the first step on the way to creating a democratic confederation of the British Isles and uniting behind the values of solidarity, peace, justice, and love.”
He also backed “the actions of new queer-youth-led activist group No More Royals, who covered the area surrounding the Minster with art mocking the king that was sent in from around the country”.
During today’s royal visit, a group of around 30 people chanted “not my King” and held up placards as Charles and Camilla arrived at York Minster.
But they were outnumbered by the thousands who turned out to welcome the King and Queen Consort to the city – and also outnumbered by the scores of police who were stationed on the streets for the visit.
Graham Smith, CEO of the group Republic, said the protest will be bigger at the coronation, promising to make themselves “unmissable” during the day.
Mr Smith said: “We’re thinking it’s going to be over a thousand people at the coronation itself.
“We’re not quite sure what we’re going to do but we may have other groups along the route.
“But, certainly, there will be one large protest in the middle, on the procession route.
“And it will be a lot of this really, lots of ‘not my King’ placards – we’ll be making some noise. There’ll be a bit of a party atmosphere, trying to engage the people around us and keep it fairly light-hearted.
“And we’ll make sure that when the procession goes past we are unmissable.”
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Mr Smith said: “We’ll be protesting at the coronation and beyond just to really challenge the idea of a succession of head of state and to say we want an election instead of a coronation – a choice instead of chance.”
He said he and his fellow protesters got a “mixed reaction” in York, admitting that the majority of those gathered outside the minster did not agree with them.
“Some of them get annoyed but it’s a free country and we can all stand here and demonstrate our support or our opposition,” he said.
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