Security tighter than at the royal wedding

AS thousands of well-wishers lined the banks of the Thames to catch a glimpse of the Royal barge yesterday, one of the UK’s biggest ever security operations was under way to ensure it was a day to be remembered for all the right reasons.
By The Newsroom
Published 4th Jun 2012, 07:00 BST

The Royal family were protected by Royal Navy vessels, marines and armed police in speed boats as their boat, the Spirit of Chartwell, sailed in the 1,000-strong flotilla.

Scotland Yard and Essex Police patrol craft were also on hand, and SAS teams were stationed on the riverside to support the 6,000 police officers and 7,000 stewards on duty.

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Bridges were monitored, underwater searches were carried out and boats were examined before the event.

The operation was even bigger than that at last year’s Royal Wedding, with measures drawn up to combat potential threats from Islamic extremists, dissident Irish republican terrorists, anarchists and lone stalkers.

More than 30,000 individual security checks were carried out on flotilla participants and anyone with access to boats and bridges.

Security plans were beefed up after anti-elitist protester Trenton Oldfield disrupted the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race by swimming into the path of the boats, to try to avoid a repeat.