A man who threw an egg at King Charles during a walkabout in Luton said he did it because he thought the visit was in “bad taste”.
Harry May, 21, pleaded guilty at Westminster Magistrates' Court to throwing an egg toward the King during a walkabout in Luton in December.
Prosecutor Jason Seetal said police detained May after seeing him hurl a projectile, which landed on the floor nearby as the King spoke with members of the public.
The King was temporarily steered away from the crowds outside Luton Town Hall by his security staff shortly after arriving. He then resumed shaking hands with members of the public after being moved to a different area.
Mr Seetal said when officers interviewed him, he told them “he did this because he believed the King visiting a town like Luton, which is a deprived and poor area, was in bad taste and he wanted to make a point of this”.
May sat in the dock wearing glasses and a navy jacket and remained expressionless as the facts were read out to the court.
The King was visiting Luton to ride the new cable-drawn Dart passenger transit system. He was also set to visit Luton Town Hall and the newly-built Guru Nanak Gurdwara. Charles looked relaxed as he met members of the public during his visit, just a day after the Duke of Sussex spoke of a “dirty game” in a trailer for his new Netflix series.
A month prior, a man was detained by police after appearing to throw eggs at the King and Queen Consort during a walkabout at Micklegate Bar, York.
The pair were visiting Yorkshire where the monarch unveiled a statue of his mother, the late Elizabeth II.
The 23-year-old was heard shouting “this country was built on the blood of slaves” as he was being detained by around four police officers after throwing eggs at the monarch - none of which hit.
On Thursday, King Charles attended his first official engagement since Prince Harry’s withering memoir Spare was released this week.
The monarch visited a community shed project in Aboyne, Aberdeenshire, in Scotland this morning, to tour its new facilities and meet hardship support groups.
He was seen beaming as he met people involved in the community scheme, despite the torrent of headlines that have followed the publication of his youngest son’s memoir.
During the King’s Scottish engagement, he is due to meet Lord Lieutenant Sandy Manson before being given a tour of the Community Shed’s ground floor.
At the home of the Aboyne Men’s Shed workshop, Charles is set to watch craft skills in action, including wood and stone carving, and meet the men who gather there weekly. He is also expected to meet representatives from other charities and voluntary groups, including the Inverurie-based Aberdeenshire North Foodbank, Gordon Rural Action and Young at Heart Deeside.
Spare is already the fastest-selling non-fiction book of all time, according to its publisher, Transworld Penguin Random House.
The book does not hold back in its criticism of the royal family, with allegations of an altercation between William and Harry, claims Camilla had an “agenda” to repair her public image as the “other woman” in his father’s marriage.
Harry goes into intensely private detail about his family, known for the Queen’s mantra “never complain, never explain”.
