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 Palladium
• 20,000 students and activists laid siege to Westminster
• Protesters threw flares, smoke bombs and snooker balls
• Scotland Yard resorted to 'kettling' in Parliament Square
• At least 22 arrests, including two for arson and four for burglary
• Fees increase carried by 323 votes to 302 - majority of 21

With 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 breach for a generation, the car carrying her and Prince Charles was kicked, rocked and hit with paint bombs.
A ‘steaming 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.

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Frightened: Prince Charles and Camilla show their fear inside the car as it is attacked by the mob

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The Prince and the Duchess were not hurt, but the potential risk to their safety will raise new questions about police readiness following the fiasco last month which saw fees protesters smash up Tory Party headquarters.
Metropolitan police chief Sir Paul Stephenson voiced his fury last night. ‘Right-minded people, including peaceful 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 officers 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 year to £9,000.

Paint job: Charles and Camilla's Car was hit by a paint bomb

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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 leaders Menzies Campbell and Charles Kennedy voted against the Government.
Another eight Lib Dems abstained rather than back the plans, meaning 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 pleas 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 weakened Mr Clegg.

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     Entry: Demonstrators went through the doors of the HM Treasury building after breaking 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 protesters

Mr Clegg, who promised not to raise fees during the General Election campaign, denied he should feel ashamed for voting in favour of the policy.
‘I would feel ashamed if I didn’t deal with the way that the world is, not simply dream of the way the world I would like it to be,’ the Deputy Prime Minister said.
But Liberal Democrat MPs openly defied their leader. 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 leader Nick Clegg and David Cameron, Mr Cable was met with jeers as he argued that the new system of fees, repaid once graduates start earning £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 deal with a hail of flares thrown by protesters

Tense: Business Secretary Vince Cable's voice wavered in his opening remarks

Mr 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 hear people talking

Source: dailymail