Royals, world leaders and hundreds of thousands of members of the public were kept safe on Monday amid heightened concerns about possible attacks. The scale exceeded the platinum jubilee weekend operation and the London 2012 Olympics, which saw up to 10,000 police officers on duty per day. Nick Aldworth, the former national co-ordinator of counter-terrorism police, said plans for the Queen’s funeral had been discussed in detail for decades. “The success behind the scale of this business is from years of planning,” he told the Guardian. The UK public’s heightened awareness of potential terrorist acts, and their willingness to report suspicions, also made central London an ideal venue for a large-scale event, he said. “London, because of what it has experienced and years of vigilance, is in many ways an ideal place because the public is aware of the potential risks,” he said. Metropolitan police deputy assistant commissioner Stuart Cuddy said on Sunday that “nothing can compare” to the “hugely complex” project. The funeral was the “final and most complicated phase” of the police operation that took place after the monarch’s death, he said. It comes as the country’s terror threat level is ‘substantial’, meaning an attack is ‘likely’. Police and security agencies had expressed concern over the possibility of knife attacks, bomb blasts and all other possible terrorist threats or incidents. The security services were also involved in planning the funeral, identifying any potential threats, while the National Infrastructure Protection Center was responsible for providing expert advice to the director of MI5 and across government. More than 3,000 other officers from almost every force in the country were drafted in to help police in London. Armed police, motorcycle escort riders, mounted patrol officers, dog teams and the marine unit were among the specialist teams involved. Rooftop snipers were in position as the cortege moved, escorted by helicopter escort anywhere outside the capital. So-called lone actor terrorism, particularly knife attacks, are now seen as the main threat. However, the police guarding the new king and senior members of the royal family must also consider the dangers of people fixated on those in the public eye. Members of the public were urged to report any suspicious behaviour, with security experts describing potential terrorists in the crowd as people who looked “grossly out of place” and disinterested in ceremonial events. By Friday morning, more than 30 arrests, for a range of offences, had been made as part of the operation, Cuddy said. Since then, a man has been charged with public order and is expected to stand trial after an alleged disturbance by the Queen’s coffin in Westminster Hall. Another man has appeared in court facing allegations he sexually assaulted two women who were queuing to attend the Queen’s lie-in-state. More than 22 miles (35 km) of barricades in central London alone were put in place to control crowds and keep key areas safe. Around 2,300 police officers supervised the Queen’s final journey from Westminster Abbey to Windsor Castle. Around 1,000 lined the route, along with military personnel, from the abbey to Wellington Arch as the Queen’s coffin was carried by the service by cart.
