LONDON — Four protesters were arrested Saturday after splattering food on the display case of a priceless diamond-encrusted crown at the Tower of London.
The Crown Jewels display was temporarily closed after members of a group called Take Back Power smeared apple crumble and poured yellow custard — two staples on British dessert menus — on the case containing the Imperial State Crown. King Charles III wore the crown as he left his coronation ceremony in 2023 and during his speech to open Parliament in 2024.
The hefty crown, containing 2,868 diamonds, 17 sapphires, 11 emeralds, four rubies and 269 pearls, was crafted for the coronation of Charles’ grandfather, George VI, in 1937.
Police said the protesters were arrested on suspicion of criminal damage. The jewels, a popular tourist attraction, were unharmed, Historic Royal Palaces said.
Take Back Power, a civil disobedience group that advocates for a permanent citizens’ assembly and wants to tax extreme wealth, said in a statement that two of its members had thrown the food and two others were also arrested and taken into “custard-y.”
The stunt is one of many that have targeted prized treasures and artworks to draw attention to political causes. Anti-fossil-fuel protesters were imprisoned last year for tossing a can of tomato soup on glass protecting Van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” at London’s National Gallery.
Video of the act at the Tower of London — once a royal palace also known as the prison where Anne Boleyn, Thomas More and others were executed — showed two protesters attacking the case as other visitors stepped back in shock.
After an employee intervened and radioed for help, the two demonstrators unfurled a sign saying, “Democracy has crumbled. Tax the rich.”
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