【警方制定计划,防止不法人员破坏王室婚礼】
POLICE are scouring London for explosives and hidden weapons in the final preparations to security ahead of the Royal Wedding, and what will be one the most high-profile UK events in a generation.Stalkers and royal fanatics are being targeted, while the procession route is checked for explosives.
The £20 million police operation is focused on anti-terrorism and preventing anarchists and stalkers.
Armed police will line the procession route looking for anyone who breaches the cordon or approaches members of the procession.
Police believe the wedding between Prince William and Kate Middleton will be a prime target for terrorists with all the Royal Family, senior members of the government, major celebrities and 50 foreign heads of state in attendance.
Officers are inspecting drains, lampposts and traffic lights, looking under manhole covers and have even broken security seals on the Mall, looking for any suspicious items, an operation that will continue until the big day.
With a worldwide television audience of up to two billion, senior officers want to avoid an incident like the attack on the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall's Rolls-Royce during the university tuition fees protests last year.
The duchess was poked in the ribs with a stick, possibly part of a placard, through an open window and white paint was thrown over the vehicle.
She was pictured looking shocked and distressed, and she and Prince Charles were forced to leave afterwards in the back of a police van.
The scare led the Metropolitan Police to launch an immediate inquiry into security for the Royal Family in London.
Inspector Ian Fairman, who is in charge of the search teams, said yesterday: "Officers are trained to be vigilant and check areas where items may have been hidden. Police officers will be checking vulnerable areas all along the route of the procession."