Is King Charles safe?

The news that his security experts are conducting an urgent review of the King’s safety during his expected traditional Christmas Day walkabout near his Norfolk home, Sandringham – where he will be accompanied by his wife – is sad but scarcely surprising.

Already in his short reign there have been two disturbing incidents: eggs were thrown at Charles during royal visits to York and Lincoln. Fortunately, the perpetrators missed both times. But, given the tendency for copycat behaviour among the more moronic of the monarch’s subjects, the danger that an egg thrower may score a hit next time is obviously high.

Compared to their European cousins and counterparts, and considering how frequent are their encounters with crowds, violence directed at Britain’s royal family has been mercifully rare. In 1981, during the Trooping the Colour ceremony, a teenage boy named Marcus Sarjeant fired blank shots at the late Queen Elizabeth from a starting pistol.