Duchess of Cambridge visit to Sarah Everard vigil may have been legal as she was ‘working’ - Met Commissioner

The Duchess of Cambridge did not break the law by attending the Sarah Everard vigil as “she was working”, Met Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick suggested today.

Kate traveled to the Clapham Common gathering in the afternoon of March 13 to lay flowers, and was seen mixing with members of the public who were also paying tribute to Ms Everard.

The Met had opposed a vigil that day, arguing it would not comply with Covid regulations, and Dame Cressida said afterwards she herself would have attended the event “if it had been lawful”.

Questioned on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme this morning about the Duchess’ attendance, the senior officer defended the Royal’s decision to go to the vigil.

“I would imagine, of course I have not asked her this question. I think it’s worth looking at what she said, as an example of just how strongly people felt, what she said about her attendance there”, she said.

“She’s in the course of her duties, she was working, so of course in that sense…”

Host Justin Webb intervened to ask: “Really? It was legal for her because you think she was there for work?”

Sarah Everard
PA Media

Dame Cressida then said: “Let me go back. At that point, people had a whole series of potential reasonable excuses for being away from home, we didn’t all have them for everything.

“I’ve picked out one that may well apply to her, but let’s be clear, there was a very calm vigil to which she attended where lots and lots of people came.”

The vigil was marred in the evening by clashes with police as officers tried to disperse the crowd that had gathered on the common.

Sarah Everard vigil
PA Wire

The Commissioner said officers used “discretion” for around six hours to allow a peaceful vigil to take place, but said the force had decided in advance of the day that some of the attendees wanted a “mass rally”.

“There was not an ability in the long-run to be able to keep this socially-distanced, or in any way Covid-safe or in fact strictly legal”, she said.

On the Duchess’ attendance, Mr Webb pressed: “You had said if it was legal you would have gone. But you didn’t go, you didn’t attend the vigil so we can assume from that you thought no part of it was legal including the part the Duchess of Cambridge went to, which you are telling us this morning if she was there for work it was legal for her.”

Metropolitan Police raid
PA Archive

Dame Cressida replied: “It was clearly possible under the law for example, for somebody who lived locally to walk, as many did, and lay flowers legally. There are other reasons why people might be in the area and they could have laid flowers calmly and peacefully, and potentially legally.”

She dismissed a suggestion the Met had misinterpreted the coronavirus laws, insisting they knew the vigil “would be unlawful”.

Ms Everard went missing on her walk home from a friend’s house on March 3, and was found dead in Kent woodland a week later.

The Met fought a High Court battle with Reclaim These Streets, a group who wanted to organise a peaceful vigil on March 13 but were told it would be illegal. They ultimately called off the event, which would have been marshalled and social distancing enforced, but a vigil on the Common happened in its place.

A report published yesterday by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary cleared Met officers of wrongdoing in their handling of the vigil, which ended in well-publicised arrests of some of the attendees.

The watchdog found officers had stayed “calm” in the face of extreme provocation, but found issues with the force’s communication around the event.

Dame Cressida said this morning the Met did know about Kate’s intention to visit Clapham Common that day, but accepted that some of the officers in charge of the policing operation were not informed.

Dame Cressida also rebuked Mayor of London Sadiq Khan and Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey, who had criticised the Met’s handling of the vigil, saying they may have undermined confidence in the police force.

“People in responsible positions should stop and think before they judge”, she said.

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