By Charlie Carmichael-
A man has been charged over anti monarchist comments that were made at a proclamation ceremony for King Charles III.
Symon Hill, 45,(pictured) of Church Hill Road, Oxford, was charged with using threatening or abusive words or disorderly behaviour likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress, Thames Valley Police said.
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Mr Hill allegedly made the comments during the ceremony at Carfax Tower in Oxford in September.
He is due to appear at Oxford Magistrates’ Court on 31 January.
Symon Hill was arrested and charged for derogatory comments against King Charles in September when he called out: “Who elected him?”
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He was promptly handcuffed and put in a police van.
The protester told reporters he was walking home from church through streets that were “difficult to negotiate” due to being cordoned off for the procession and proclamation.
He then asked the police how to get home via a different route.
“The proclamation began, people in these sort of medieval costumes standing on the steps…they began with a comment expressing grief for the previous monarch and of course I respect that, I wouldn’t interrupt anything about anybody’s grief”, he said.
In September, four police officers took Symon Hill, 45, away on suspicion of a public order offence following his objection at an accession proclamation in Carfax, Oxford on Sunday.
He was later de-arrested after refusing to be interviewed without a lawyer – and warns the incident will not deter him from his right to free speech.
Mr. Hill vowed to reporters after his initial request that he will continue to demonstrate peacefully against the institution of the monarchy, but will not personally attack any individual member of the Royal Family or disrupt tributes to the late Queen Elizabeth II.
‘I’ll continue to say that Charles is not the King, and that I don’t recognise him. Whether I’ll be involved in an organised protest, I don’t know,’ he said.
‘I’m not actively organising one, but that isn’t to say I wouldn’t join in if there was something happening.
‘I will probably protest at the coronation when it happens. It will be non-violent and directed at the institution rather than personal insults at individuals.’
Another woman is also charged after ‘holding an abolish the monarchy’ sign in a separate incident in Edinburgh.
Mr.Hill waited until the section of the reading relating to Her Majesty had passed, as interrupting ‘an act of mourning is not something I would ever do’.
He continued: ‘But then when it came to the proclamation of Charles as King… as a 21st century citizen I had a problem with this idea that we would just be told who our rightful lord was. So at that point, I called out “Who elected him?”
‘A couple of people told me to shut up, which was fair enough, and I responded that I thought a head of state was being imposed without consent.’
As news of more protesters being threatened with arrest emerged, Symon expressed concern the threats of arrest will stop people from expressing opinions.
‘I think some people ignored me, some people sort of glanced at me, nobody was distressed by it, and actually, I think most people could cope with hearing somebody express an opinion they disagree with’, he said
Police were heavily criticised by Human Right lawyers for being allegedly heavy handed and denying protesters the right to free speech, but some lawyers have said the police were justified in law to make the arrest and the CPS were right to issue charges against them.
Charges against another young man who heckled Prince Andrew were eventually dropped last month on the stated grounds of seeking alternative means to deal with the problem.
However, some researchers examining that story claim there was likely an influential hand in the decision not to pursue charges. Officials from the Cps told this publication that they wanted to achieve the best possible solution in the circumstances.
Police has so far not named the young 22 year old, who heckled prince Andrew, potentially because he no longer will have to face a judge for his offence.
As for Mr Hills who insulted the king, he will have to answer to a judge with respect to the charges.
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