UK
Duke of Westminster wedding: Protester sets off fire extinguisher outside Chester Cathedral
A fire extinguisher has been set off outside the Duke of Westminster’s wedding.
The environmental protest group Just Stop Oil said its activists had “disrupted” the ceremony at Chester Cathedral as the bride and groom made their way to a Bentley car.
Prince William, who acted as an usher at the marriage of billionaire aristocrat Hugh Grosvenor, 33, and Olivia Henson, 31, was also leaving at the time.
Two women sprayed orange powder paint in the air from a fire extinguisher while standing among a crowd of spectators a short distance from the venue.
Seconds later, police officers wrestled it from the demonstrators and escorted them away.
Barbara Williams, 81, from Cheshire, who was standing next to the protesters in the crowd, said: “I feel a bit shaken after it.
“We were standing next to them all day.”
Her friend Andrea Machin, 56, added: “They were already here when we arrived at 7am, they had shopping trolleys with them.
“Everyone was watching the bride and groom and then we just saw orange and they had what looked like a fire extinguisher with them.
“The police realised quite quickly what was happening and pulled them out. One of them said it was for her grandchildren. It happened just as William was coming out of the door.”
The Duke of Westminster tied the knot with his bride at Chester Cathedral. Pic: PA
A spokesman for Cheshire Police said: “Shortly after 1pm on Friday a coloured flare was released by two women, believed to be protesting on behalf of Just Stop Oil, on St Werberg Street, Chester.
“Officers were immediately on the scene and two women were quickly arrested on suspicion of public order offences.
“The 69-year-old woman from Manchester and 73-year-old woman from Suffolk are both in police custody at this time.”
Rhona Dalziel, 57, said: “One of them had been reading a Richard Osman book. It’s bizarre.”
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Prince William had served as an usher at the wedding. Pic: PA
In a statement, Just Stop Oil quoted protester Polly, 73, a care worker from Norfolk, who said: “Weddings are a time of coming together in celebration to make a commitment to the future.
“However, for countless millions around the world there is no future unless we come together to stop oil and gas.”
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A second protester Sheila, 69, from Bristol, who worked as an NHS nurse for 50 years, was quoted as saying: “What do we value most? The wealth of billionaires like the Duke of Westminster or the lives of the billions who are being destroyed by the fossil fuel industry?
“Extreme wealth and the climate crisis are both symptoms of a broken system that is not serving most ordinary people.”