Prince William booed and jeered at Westminster Abby: “Morally repugnant”
Prince William has been jeered at while attending an event that marks 50 years since the launch of UK’s nuclear submarines.
Alongside the new Defence Secretary Penny Mordaunt on Friday, protestors shouted “shame on you and “down with war” outside Westminster Abbey.
The 36-year-old royal is the Commodore-in-Chief of the Submarine Service and attended the event to recognise the UK commitment to maintaining Operation Relentless – a feat aimed at making sure British submarines continue to be the best in the world.
The operation is the longest mission running in the history of the armed forces.
Activists from the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) stood across the road from the Abbey, booing the Duke who attended the event.
The event was shared by the royal family’s official Instagram account where the caption read: “The Duke of Cambridge attended a Service at @WestminsterAbbeyLondon to recognise fifty years of continuous deterrent at sea, in his capacity as Commodore-in-Chief of the @RoyalNavy Submarine Service.
“The service recognised the commitment of the Royal Navy to effective peace-keeping through the deterrent over the past fifty years and to pray for peace throughout the world.”
The group were pinned back by security as they shouted various chants.
Protesters labelled the celebration of these “weapons of mass destruction” as “morally repugnant.”
“This sends out a terrible message to the world about our country. It says that here in Britain we celebrate weapons, in a place of worship, that can kill millions of people,” the CND said.
29-year-old protestor, Omar Ahmed, shouted alongside other protestors from outside the event.
“It’s quite disgraceful that those most senior in society don’t realise the damage of what nuclear weapons can do,” he later told the Express.
For over 50 years, since 1969, at least one UK ballistic missile submarine has been on patrol beneath the ocean’s surface.
The Dean of Westminster, Reverend Dr John Hall, said he had received a number of phone calls and messages the night before the event urging him to cancel it.
However, he stressed the service was to honour peace, not violence.
“I have been asked repeatedly whether this service was meant to be a celebration of nuclear weapons, or an act of thanksgiving,” he said.
“We can’t celebrate weapons of mass destruction, but we do owe a debt of gratitude and sincere thanks to all those countless men and women, some represented here today, who in the past 50 years have maintained a deterrent, and indeed to their families, who have stood by them.
“Those countless men and women played their part, a vital part, in maintaining peace.”
Prince William gave a reading during the service and attended wearing a dark suit with the Queen’s Golden Jubilee medal and Diamond Jubilee medal pinned to it.