King Charles must break his silence on the riots

After the far-right rioting of last night failed to materialise, there is hope that we have now seen the worst of the public disorder that flared up following the Southport stabbings. This is certainly what the Prime Minister will be thinking today, but his new good friend the King could well have exactly the same perspective on the situation, too.

The King initially commented on the stabbings, expressing his horror at the ‘utterly horrific’ atrocity: ‘We send our most heartfelt condolences, prayers and deepest sympathies to the families and loved ones of those who have so tragically lost their lives, and to all those affected by this truly appalling attack’. But since then, as rioting has spread all over the country that he rules, he has been conspicuously silent. Is this the right approach, or should the King have come forward and offered a strong statement of condemnation?

Those who are defending Charles’s apparent dithering in the face of civil unrest point to the fact that, when Britain was last engulfed in riots in 2011, his mother did not offer any public comment, waiting instead for the violence to die down before matters could resume as usual.