The extraordinary pictures of Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall besieged in their limousine are shocking. Their faces show real fear – as any of us might if we were stuck in a car that was being hammered by an angry mob.
Similar attacks on royal personages are rare today, but were not so unusual in the 17th and 18th centuries. Charles II and his brother James Duke of York enjoyed a daily stroll through St James Park, and although Charles was relatively popular, his brother and heir was regarded as dour, charmless and overly ambitious. James was concerned for their safety, as, in the days before the royal protection squad, they were accompanied only by a couple of unarmed companions. Charles comforted his brother: ‘There is no danger,’ he assured him, ‘no man in England would do me harm to make you king’.
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