A furious royal fan claims he has been robbed while camping on The Mall in central London ahead of the Coronation.
Patrick McCrossan, who lives in Chelsea, about half an hour from Westminster, has set up camp on The Mall to be sure of being in prime position when King Charles passes by on Saturday.
But, he says, thieves not only stole the first tent he set up, but also the one he replaced it with. He’s now sleeping in a lawn chair and says he’s afraid to even go to the loo in case someone steals that.
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Along with his tents, Patrick lost a number of electronic items including phone chargers and a £660 GoPro that he had been hoping to use to capture video of the royal procession.
Patrick told the Daily Mail that he was disgusted that criminals were “using the Coronation as an opportunity” to steal from royal fans.
A spokesman from the Metropolitan Police told the Daily Star that the force has “no record” of any such crimes taking place.
Patrick said he didn't see any point telling the police: "I don't see any cameras anywhere," he explained
"My bag had phone chargers and all sorts of things in it," he added. "I bought my GoPro, £659, in March for my birthday and it was gone. I lost a lot of stuff.
'I'd got myself a GoPro for my birthday because I go to that many interesting places and see interesting things.'
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Police from the Met and other forces are combining to mount “one of the most significant and largest security operations:” the capital has seen.
There will be more than 29,000 police officer deployments over the coming week in the lead up to Coronation Day and over the rest of the Bank Holiday weekend.
As part of the operation, codenamed Operation Golden Orb, facial recognition technology will be used to identify anyone “whose attendance on Coronation Day would raise public protection concerns”.
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Anti-monarchist groups have been sent what they describe as “intimidating” warning letters that stress new laws have been put into place to prevent any form of protest.
The Met says “Our tolerance for any disruption, whether through protest or otherwise, will be low. We will deal robustly with anyone intent on undermining this celebration”.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Ade Adelekan said: “We want Londoners and visitors coming to the city to enjoy this historic and momentous occasion safely and securely".
“On Coronation Day." he added, "we will have the largest one day mobilisation of officers seen in decades with just over 11,500 officers on duty.
“The weekend promises to be a spectacular celebration and the Met police is honoured to be policing such an internationally important event across the capital.
“We have been planning for this occasion for some time; the Met has a long history of policing such events and we will draw upon our diverse expertise from across our organisation, using officers and specialist units to keep people safe and tackle any arising issues.
“London is one of the most exciting and diverse cities in the world and throughout the celebrations, we will be at the heart of and doing all we can to be connected with the people and communities we serve. Our officers are here to help you, if you feel like something doesn’t look right please speak with us.”
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