Eight arrests made at King's Honours of Scotland ceremony in Edinburgh

A total of eight people were arrested on Wednesday, as Edinburgh hosted the Royal Family to mark the King and Queen’s coronation.

Hordes of royal fans and protesters alike arrived early on the capital’s Royal Mile ahead of the ceremony on Wednesday afternoon.

Police Scotland confirmed later in the day that a total of eight people had been arrested over the course of the day, four of whom were later changed to a recorded police warning.

Two women were arrested after allegedly trying to climb over a crowd safety barrier at the Royal Mile.

Police said the women, aged 20 and 21, were arrested in connection with an alleged breach of the peace.

Three men and one woman were arrested for alleged threatening behaviour and failing to desist. These arrests were later changed to a recorded police warning.

Additionally, one man was arrested in connection with theft, and another in connection with an outstanding warrant.

Assistant chief constable Tim Mairs, police lead for the event, said: “This significant constitutional event took place safely without any disruption to the ceremony or people’s procession.

“Safety was our priority and a number of actions were taken to ensure this, which included an open approach to engaging with potential protest groups.

“Over the past few weeks, our protest liaison team have been speaking to protest groups, we set up an Independent Advisory Group to help guide our approach and, in coordination with the event organiser and the local authority crowd safety manager, we worked hard to identify dedicated protest areas to maximise public safety, balanced against people’s rights to protest.”

He added: “Decisions about how to police protests require us to balance complex and often competing rights and issues. We have a legal duty to protect the rights of people who wish to peacefully protest or counter-protest.

“Our priority is public safety and a policing plan was in place to maintain people’s safety, ensure the safe delivery of this event, enable peaceful protest and minimise disruption.”