Punishments For The Person Who Threw Eggs At King Charles Has Royal Experts Amused
Queen Elizabeth, as the UK's longest-reigning monarch, left big shoes for her son to fill — figuratively, of course since she wore a UK size 4 (U.S. size 6), per Express. Shortly after the queen's death, according to a survey by YouGov/Times, 63% of Britons surveyed thought he'd do a good job as king. However, doing a good job and being popular aren't always necessarily the same thing, and King Charles is already facing a number of challenges early in his reign.
King Charles is currently the fifth most popular member of the royal family, according to another poll by YouGov. Despite having passed away earlier this year, Queen Elizabeth is ranked No. 1 with a 73% approval rating followed by Kate Middleton with 66% and her husband Prince William with 65% — some have thought that Prince William should have succeeded Queen Elizabeth. King Charles with 44% is beat out for fourth place by his sister Princess Anne, who's at 61%.
One critic of the king wasn't shy about showing their disapproval; a protestor threw eggs at King Charles and Camilla, Queen Consort, per BBC. The egg thrower, 23-year-old University of York student Patrick Thelwell, was released on bail so long as he both stays 500 meters or more away from the king and doesn't bring eggs to a public place, via Daily Mail. Did the punishment fit the crime? Twitter chimed in.
People enjoyed poking fun at the egg thrower
After news came out that Patrick Thelwell was banned from publicly carrying eggs after throwing them at King Charles and Camilla, Queen Consort, British journalist and royal expert Omid Scobie tweeted, "That'll teach him!" Many took the opportunity to make jokes. "If he maintains good behavior for three months then he's allowed one quails egg at a time for a probationary period," one person tweeted.
"How eggsactly is this going to be policed?" tweeted another. They weren't alone. Dominique Samuels, commentator for ITV and BBC questioned how it would work: "I'm sorry, but how is that even legally enforceable? Just sounds absolutely ridiculous."
It turns out, that was a very reasonable question from Samuels. The public egg carrying portion of the bail conditions has apparently been modified, according to Thelwell, to allow for grocery shopping, via Daily Mail. Patrick Thelwell will face more official punishment after his scheduled court appearance on December 1 as he has been charged with a Section 4 public order offense.
King Charles and Camilla, Queen Consort were greeting visitors who'd gathered to see them at Micklegate Bar, one of the city's famous medieval gate, when the incident occuered, per BBC. The eggs missed the royal couple, and King Charles didn't seem overly bothered by what happened. Thelwell, a frequent protestor, was tackled by police and shouted, "This country was built on the blood of slaves," via Daily Mail.