|
With the Queen and around 50 members of the extended royal familyall gathering in one place, the stakes are higher than ever. Assuch the London police, Scotland Yard and MI5 Britain'scounterintelligence unit have been considering a slew of uglyscenarios as they prepare for this weekend's Diamond Jubilee,the biggest royal-security operation ever staged in the U.K. Agencies have digitally mapped keylocations from the air to identify weak spots, like rooftops, andintelligence units have tuned in to phone conversations andmonitored the Internet for chatter of potential Diamond Jubileeterror. On the day itself, more than 6,000 officers will line theroute some dressed in plain clothes and embedded with thecrowds. And another 7,000 stewards will help with general crowdcontrol. ( PHOTOS: The Best Diamond Jubilee Souvenirs ) And while it's important to monitor those watching thepageant, police must also consider threats from within the pageantitself. Officers will search every person and the more than1,000 boats they'll be sailing on in the hours leading upto the extravaganza. At the same time, police frogmen will conductunderwater searches while other units scour riverbanks. The RoyalNavy has confirmed that 10 of its vessels, some carrying commandos,will surround the royal barge carrying the Queen, Prince Philip,Prince Charles, the Duchess of Cornwall and the Duke and Duchess ofCambridge. The London police will also utilize 23 of its own boatsand two borrowed from the nearby Essex police force. Whetherdiscreet and hidden or oversize and flashy, many boats will containspecialist-firearm officers. But guns aren't necessary totake someone out. As Davies says: "The Royal Marines are onfast vessels that can quickly intercept and, if necessary, ram andsink, anyone who tries to come too close." As in any high-level-security event, authorities have identifiedand isolated key groups that pose the biggest threat. Al-Qaeda isan obvious one. The group has developed expertise launching waterborne attacks in recent years. And then there are Irish republican militants. In1979, the IRA assassinated Lord Mountbatten, the Queen'scousin and close friend of Prince Charles, by detonating a 23-kgbomb attached to his fishing boat. In 1983, authorities foiled anIRA plot to blow up a bomb inside London's Dominion Theatrewhile Prince Charles and Diana attended a Duran Duran concert.According to Davies, who is not directly involved in securityoperations for the Diamond Jubilee, the threat of a mainland attackremains low. Given recent events, though, security forces willstill be wary. On May 18, police charged six men and one woman inNorthern Ireland with a series of terrorist offenses includingconspiracy to murder. Three of those charged are suspected members of the Real IRA, a splinter, militant IrishRepublican Army faction. The arrests come just weeks before theQueen visits Northern Ireland on June 26 and 27 as part of herDiamond Jubilee celebrations. Authorities have not linked thosecharged with any threat to the Queen or the celebrations. ( MORE: See TIME's Special Coverage of the Diamond Jubilee ) Not all threats operate within a network. Less known to the generalpublic are "fixated individuals" mentally ill peoplewith a pathological focus on someone, often a stranger. Fortypercent of the most persistent stalkers in the U.K. are fixated onmembers of the royal family, who collectively receive around 10,000correspondences from them each year. Some believe they should havemarried Prince William. Others want to harm Catherine, Duchess ofCambridge. As one woman wrote on William's Facebook wallahead of his nuptials last year: "I will put a stop to thisright now." The Fixated Threat Assessment Centre a team of psychologists funded by the Home Office andBritain's National Health Service identifies those whopose the biggest threats. "Ninety-eight percent of them areharmless," says Davies. "But the younger, moreattractive members of the royal family attract certain types ofindividuals who might try to do something for publicity." Naturally, protesters want attention too. Republic , a group that campaigns to abolish the British monarchy, haspromised to stage "the biggest and boldest antimonarchyprotest in modern times." They've set up the website .uk to keep their sansculottes informed. The main fear isn'tthat they'll actively harm anyone Republic is a peacefulaction group but rather that the large crowds may trample peoplewho, out of drunkenness or exhaustion, end up on the ground. Asecond fear is that members swept up in the spirit of dissent willharm themselves. "We remind people that their right toprotest will be balanced against the rights of those people whohave come to attend this historic event," deputy assistantcommissioner of the London police Stephen Kavanagh told the Evening Standard . "I would say that any individual who is thinking of makinga protest and diving into the water should think very carefullyabout their own safety with the number of boats afloat. Members of the royal family will look after themselves too. Each ofthem except for recent additions like the Duchess of Cambridge and the Duchess of Cornwall have grown up with security guardsat their side. They know better than anyone the numerous ways inwhich they could be harmed or even killed, and they find strengthin the routines and protocols drummed into them from birth. Thatrequires a certain leap of faith. "The Queen is veryfatalistic. She trusts in the police and the others to do theirjobs," says Davies, adding that Elizabeth has had an easiertime than her predecessors. "Queen Victoria was attackedeight times during her reign. This Queen has been relativelylucky." In Elizabeth II's 60th year on the throne, longmay her luck continue. MORE: Scenes from a Fairytale as William and Kate Celebrate TheirOne-Year Anniversary Adams is a staff writer at the London bureau of TIME . Find him on Twitter at @willyleeadams or on Facebook . You can also continue the discussion on TIME s Facebook page and on Twitter at @TIME. BUY THE BOOK: The Royal Family: The House of Windsor, Past, Present and Future. The e-commerce company in China offers quality products such as China Kraft Paper Shopping Bags , China Pearlized Envelopes, and more. For more , please visit Poly Bubble Envelope today!
Related Articles -
China Kraft Paper Shopping Bags, China Pearlized Envelopes,
|
