Security Screw-Up Causes Royals to Be Targets?
It happened as the royal couple were on their way to a gala concert in London's theater district, while students demonstrated nearby against tuition fee increase.
First came the police escort. Then the royal Rolls. At first, the protestors seemed - amused, reports CBS News correspondent Elizabeth Palmer.
"Oy Charles, how you doin' mate?" yelled one of the protesters while laughing.
Then things got ugly.
A mob - shouting, "Off with their heads!," smashed a window, kicked the car and threw paint - until police fended them off.
The couple reached the theater - unharmed - but shocked and shaken.
If Camilla had got out of the car two minutes later, she'd be covered in paint. It could have been the picture of the century. How catastrophic would that be for the image of our royal family?
Show how did it happen?
The royal car usually follows smaller side roads from Prince Charles' residence to the theatre district, but last night it took main roads and ran right into the protesters.
"There was literally hundreds of us," said one student. "They should have seen the cars and taken them in another direction. You don't expect to see Prince Charles and Camilla to be in a card driving past a riot."
But the mob wasn't rioting when a police reconnaissance team checked the route, says London's police chief, including several minutes beforehand, when it was still clear.
Britain's royals have been targeted before.
A youth shot blanks at the Queen in 1981.
And in 1994 a man fired a starting pistol at Prince Charles.
But neither incident changed the family's deliberately open, accessible style.
"They like to be seen by their public," said security expert Ken Wharfe. "To lock them into armored vehicles every day of their lives is something they wouldn't want."
Both the royal family and the police know they had a close call last night, and they're determined it won't happen again. An urgent security review is under way now, especially as Prince William's royal wedding is planned for April.
