LONDON: At least two people caused a disturbance at a military parade in London which launches celebrations for Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee on Thursday, running out in front of marching soldiers before being arrested, TV pictures showed.

Two men ran out from behind barriers where tens of thousands of people had gathered on the Mall boulevard, which leads to Buckingham Palace, and lay down in front of a marching band, footage showed.

One of the individuals appeared to hold up a banner, before police dragged away the men, one of whom was wearing a gold crown on his head.

“A number of arrests have been made of people who attempted to enter the ceremonial route in The Mall. The arrests were public order related for highway obstruction,” police said on Twitter.

“Thank you to the crowd who showed their support by clapping our officers who returned to their post after dealing with the incident swiftly.” The colourful ‘Trooping the Colour’ military parade, which takes place annually to celebrate the queen’s official birthday, involves some 1,500 soldiers and officers.

Elizabeth used to take part in the parade herself on horseback until 1986 - five years after a man had fired six blank shots at her as she rode by, managing to control her startled horse in the process. She was unharmed and the man was arrested.

Published in Dawn, June 3rd, 2022