According to senior security officials, protesters intend to disrupt King Charles‘ coronation by hurling rape alarms at the horses in the procession.
If the stunt is performed, there are worries that the horses could become startled and charge into the audience, resulting in severe injuries or even fatalities.
The Mail on Sunday adds that there is concern that members of Just Stop Oil may band together with other organizations to cause widespread disruption.
Republic, an anti-monarchy group, has urged its 41,000 Facebook followers to protest at the coronation.
Just Stop Oil has hinted the coronation could be the ‘final boss level’ for its protests. The group protested at the World Snooker Championship last week, as an activist jumped onto a table and threw orange powder.
Security sources said the rape alarm plan was causing concern because of the unpredictability of the horses’ reaction.
They added that police and other security officials ‘planned to take a robust response with protesters who attempt to disrupt proceedings’.
One source said: ‘It’s not practical to frisk members of the crowd for rape alarms, but we will move swiftly if they try it.’
Former Grenadier Guardsman Julian Perreira described the rape alarm plot as ‘nothing short of terrorism’, saying: ‘If a cavalryman – with the full weight of his gleaming ceremonial breast-plate and helmet – was thrown from his terrified horse, he could easily be killed.
‘And just imagine the horrifying consequences of several 1,500lb horses bolting into a packed crowd of spectators.
‘Dozens of members of the public, including children, could end up dead or seriously injured.’
Former commanding officer of The King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery, Charlie Lane, said: ‘If rape alarms went off some horses will react more violently than others.
‘I would be distinctly uncomfortable about it. There is a risk that individual riders are going to fall off, there is a risk horses are going to be injured.’
And equine behaviour expert Dr Debbie Marsden added: ‘If a horse spooks, they all have their own way of reacting to it. They are likely to throw their heads up and/or leap to the side away from the object.
‘If one horse reacts, it can cause a bit of a chain reaction. It could lead to an accident.’
The potential danger of bolting horses was demonstrated during a Black Lives Matter protest in London in 2020.
A police horse bolted down Whitehall after missiles were thrown at it, slamming PC Nicky Vernon into a traffic light. She suffered a collapsed lung, broken collarbone and broken ribs.
Scotland Yard said it will clamp down on protesters who try to disrupt the coronation.
Chief Sir Mark Rowley told the London Assembly’s Police and Crime Committee in January: ‘We will do everything we can to make the coronation the special moment it ought to be.’
Phoebe Plummer, spokeswoman for Just Stop Oil, has vowed that they ‘won’t stop until we win’.
During a Zoom call with fellow activists last Wednesday she said: ‘We know the rapid social change must come from civil resistance… history has proved [it] effective time and time again.’
Meanwhile, Republic’s activists are planning to wear yellow T-shirts and wave yellow placards along the procession route.
When the newly crowned King passes in his gold state coach, they plan to boo and chant: ‘Not my King.’