Royal wedding security tight
LONDON — It’s not the type of welcome most wedding guests expect — ID checks and a tough security sweep before entering the church.
But then again, Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding on Friday is no ordinary affair.
Britain hasn’t seen a royal wedding of this size since Prince Charles married Diana in 1981 — there were actually 200 more police on duty for that wedding, which had a longer procession route and a guest list of some 3,500, including foreign royals and heads of state.
Friday’s wedding will offer much of the same pomp and circumstance with its 1,900 invited guests. It presents a modern security nightmare for the 5,000 U.K. police officers on duty, who will be on the lookout for Irish dissident terrorists, Muslim extremists, anti-monarchists, protesters and ordinary riffraff who might blight the royal spectacle.
Scotland Yard Police Commander Christine Jones said Wednesday there has been no new terror threat but considerable Internet chatter.
“Our operation has been meticulously planned, and we have thought through and planned for a huge range of contingencies,” she said.
A wide range of police will be on patrol Friday: officers on motorcycles, escort specialists, dog handlers, search officers, mounted police, protection officers and firearms units, although only a fraction of Britain’s police officers are armed.
Thousands of people are expected along the parade route, a snaking path of less than a mile from Westminster Abbey to Buckingham Palace, where the new royal couple will appear on the balcony for one of the most anticipated kisses in decades.
Police helicopters buzzed over London before dawn Wednesday during a dry run — a rehearsal that saw army, navy and air force personnel in full uniform lining the parade route.
