Terrifying moment Charles and Camilla were surrounded by a baying mob and their car attacked in tuition fees riot

Prince's Rolls Royce set upon on way to Palladium20,000 students and activists laid siege to Westminster Protesters threw flares, smoke bombs and snooker ballsScotland Yard resorted to 'kettling' in Parliament SquareAt lst 22 arrests, including two for arson and four for burglaryFees incrse carried by 323 votes to 302 - majority of 21With terror written across her face, the Duchess of Cornwall comes under fire from a snarling mob of student fees rioters last night.
In the worst royal security brch for a eration, the car carrying her and Prince Charles was kicked, rocked and hit with paint bombs.
A ‘stming gang’ of masked protesters ambushed them as they were being driven to the Royal Variety Performance at the London Palladium, raising echoes of the 1974 kidnap attempt on Princess Anne.
See the below...Frightened: Prince Charles and Camilla show their fr inside the car as it is attacked by the mobEnlargeThe Prince and the Duchess were not hurt, but the potential risk to their safety will raise new questions about police rdiness following the fiasco last month which saw fees protesters smash up Tory Party hdquarters.
Metropolitan police chief Sir Paul Stephenson voiced his fury last night. ‘Right-minded people, including pceful protesters who wanted to make their point, will condemn what we saw today,’ he said.
David Cameron said the attack on the royal car was ‘shocking and regrettable’.
Observers said as few as half of the crowd were students, with a rent-a-mob of anarchists and other thugs taking control.
The clashes left 12 police rs and 43 protesters injured.
In the Commons, the Coalition was plunged into crisis as MPs voted to approve a rise in the university tuition fees cap from £3,290 a yr to £9,000.Paint job: Charles and Camilla's Car was hit by a paint bombEnlarge
Three ministerial aides – two Lib Dems and one Tory – resigned as the Government’s majority of 83 was slashed to just 21, a quarter of its normal size.
In a blow to Nick Clegg’s authority, 21 Liberal Democrats including former lders Menzies Campbell and Charles Kennedy voted against the Government.
Another eight Lib Dems abstained rather than back the plans, mning the Deputy Prime Minister failed to get even half his 57 MPs to vote with the Government.
David Cameron’s authority was also undermined as eight Tories defied personal pls to get in line.
Senior Government officials saw the rebellion either side of the walls of the Palace of Westminster as a grim portent of further protests to come at the Coalition’s cuts.
One senior figure said the Government will have to accept that up to 20 Liberal Democrats are now ‘virtually part of the opposition’ and will begin to align themselves with Labour rather than the wkened Mr Clegg.

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Entry: Demonstrators went through the doors of the HM Trsury building after brking in
Running battle: Stand-offs took place on either side of metal barriers in Westminster
Lit up: Riot police come under attack from flares as they clashed with protestersMr Clegg, who promised not to raise fees during the eral Election campaign, denied he should feel ashamed for voting in favour of the policy.
‘I would feel ashamed if I didn’t dl with the way that the world is, not simply drm of the way the world I would like it to be,’ the Deputy Prime Minister said.
But Liberal Democrat MPs openly defied their lder. Greg Mulholland, who voted against the fees rise, accused him of ‘failing to listen’.
He said: ‘Sometimes governments are wrong and sometimes you have to have the courage to stand up and say so, that’s what I’m doing today.’
Tory backbenchers formed an unlikely alliance with Labour MPs to fire awkward questions at Lib Dem Business Secretary Vince Cable as he presented the plans to the Commons.
Flanked by Lib Dem lder Nick Clegg and David Cameron, Mr Cable was met with jeers as he argued that the new system of fees, repaid once graduates start rning £21,000, was ‘more progressive and more related to the ability to pay of graduates’.

Bird's eye view: A police helicopter shines its light one protesters in Parliament Square
Smoke: Riot police dl with a hail of flares thrown by protesters


Tense: Business Secretary Vince Cable's voice wavered in his opening remarksMr Cable’s voice wavered as he tried to set out the principle behind the policy – that students would no longer have to pay upfront tuition fees.
Senior Tory Right-winger Edward Leigh warned that Middle Britain would be hit the hardest by the changes.
He said: ‘Many of the people we represent, who are on moderate incomes, who are in work, also need help as well and mustn’t be disadvantaged. Middle income, Middle Britain, cannot go on paying for this.’
Tory MP Julian Lewis, who voted No, said students from poor families would be put off by the high fees. ‘I can hr people talking

Source: dailymail