Royal tour security scare sparks probe

Press, 31 March 1983, Page 6

Royal tour security scare sparks probe

NZPA Sydney An investigation was ordered yesterday into how a crowd broke through barriers in the main street of Maitland, 200 km north of Sydney, to mob Prince Charles and Princess Diana. It was the worst security scare of the Royal tour, and came only two days after similar crowd control problems in Sydney. A senior police officer described the Maitland crowd’s response to the Royal couple as “mass hysteria.”

The trouble began as Prince Charles and Princess Diana stepped from their open Rolls-Royce for a short walk. Sections of the 30,000-strong crowd burst through barricades and sur-

rounded them. The police could only stand and watch as hundreds of well-wishers were swept along in a pressing rush. People scrambled over chairs lining the footpath and gardens around Maitland Town Hall to catch a glimpse of the Royal couple. Charles and Diana managed to stay ahead of the crowd. Ambulance officers treated about a dozen people for minor injuries or exhaustion. The officer-in-charge of the Royal tour, assistant Police Commissioner, Jim Pyne, has ordered an investigation into how the police lost control of the crowd. “The crowd was well in excess of our expectations,

but all our resources were here,” he said. “We needed more police and more barriers.” The police lost control of the crowd despite a review of security arrangements after a crush at the Sydney Opera House on Monday. The Royal couple were scheduled to visit Tasmania after resting at Woomargama in southern New South Wales. Meanwhile, the Union Jack flag has been taken down from the Victorian Parliament building. The Legislative Assembly speaker, Tom Edmunds, said that the flag was taken down at his request. He denied that this was an indication of any Republican leanings.