Royal superfan tells of her shock when she was arrested at the Coronation 

A royal superfan who was arrested and detained for 13 hours after standing next to Just Stop Oil protesters ahead of the king’s coronation said she constantly tried to explain she was not part of the group – but police ignored her.

Originally from Australia but now living in London, Alice Chambers traveled alone to The Mall hoping to catch a glimpse of Charles on the day he was formally crowned.

The 36-year-old architect said she had no idea she was sitting next to the eco-activists as they had not yet started their planned protest and police stormed the group at 9am on Saturday. Mrs. Chambers found herself captivated, too.

Ms Chambers said she arrived at the mall around 7am, but two hours later she was arrested by officers who, despite her repeated protests, mistook her for part of the group.

Speaking to BBC Newsnight, she said: ‘The next moment I realized the police had swooped in and started grabbing a whole bunch of people, and unfortunately I was one of the people they grabbed.

“They handcuffed me right away and then pulled me out of the crowd and put me against a barrier with a bunch of other protesters.”

Ms Chambers said she constantly tried to explain to them that she was not part of Just Stop Oil and ‘didn’t even know what they were protesting’.

She added, “I tried to say everything I could to say I wasn’t part of that group… couldn’t seem to say anything that really made a difference.”

Trying to stay calm, Mrs. Chambers hoped that when she was taken to a police station a few hours later, there would be someone she could talk to who would realize it was all just a ‘misunderstanding’, but it never happened and she was held for 13 hours. – miss the whole coronation.

Her fingerprints were taken and she was initially charged with ‘potential to disturb the peace’ and later received a follow-up charge of conspiracy to commit public nuisance.

She was repeatedly questioned, physically searched, locked in a cell and officers took her mugshot, fingerprints and DNA before being interviewed around 7pm on the day of the coronation.

She said she explained why she was there and the officers “looked at me in shock.” They then apologized to her and tried to “process me as quickly as possible,” but it was another few hours before she could go home.

She was finally released from Wandsworth police station around 10pm after breaking down in tears.

Ms Chambers, who has lodged a complaint with the police and the police watchdog, told Inews: ‘I understand why the police were on edge, they had a tough job that day.

“But they need better processes and better training because innocent people shouldn’t be locked up for so long.”

It comes after police faced a huge backlash over the arrests and treatment of several protesters during the coronation celebrations.

With Police Chief Sir Mark Rowley saying his agents had to target a ‘criminal network’ to disrupt the coronation. with people posing as stewards who were caught with bottles of paint they wanted to throw at the parade.

The commissioner said police had received “serious and reliable” information that activists planned to use rape alarms and loud hailers to disrupt the event, “massively vandalize monuments” and “throw paint at the procession”.

To enrol the evening standardSir Mark said officers were so concerned about the risks that Home Secretary and Mayor of London Sadiq Khan were briefed on Friday evening.

Ms Chambers (pictured outside Buckingham Palace in 2017) has made complaints about the arrest

Volunteers from the charity Night Star, which distributes rape alerts to women on their way home from a night out, were arrested in Soho in central London in the early hours of Saturday.

Six activists from the Republic group, who had liaised with the Met to stage a coronation day protest in Trafalgar Square, were also arrested early on Saturday on suspicion of going equipped to detain, but were released on bail. Released without charge 16 hours later.

Sir Mark described the arrests as ‘unfortunate’ but dismissed ‘ill-informed commentary’ about how police had behaved.

A spokesman for the Met Police said: ‘We are aware that a woman was arrested on May 6, 2023 in connection with a protest.

“The arresting officer was from Lincolnshire Police and the complaint has therefore been passed on to the relevant police to investigate. The Met will help by providing all the relevant information they need.”

Chief Inspector Simon Outen, Professional Standards Department, Lincolnshire Police, told MailOnline: ‘Our officers were in central London on Saturday 6 May providing mutual aid to colleagues at the Met, and a woman in her 30s was arrested at that time in connection with a Just Stop Oil protest.

She was subsequently released without further action.

“We have now received a complaint and are reviewing the incident. We are in contact with the complainant to establish the full details of her allegations.’