LONDON — The Tower of London was closed after a video appeared to show activists smearing food on a display case containing one of Britain’s crown jewels.
Police said four protesters had been arrested following the incident just before 10 a.m. local time (5 a.m. ET) on Saturday, after reports that food had been thrown onto the case containing the State Crown.
“Officers worked closely with City of London Police and security officers and four people have been arrested on suspicion of criminal damage. They have taken into custody,” London’s Metropolitan Police said.
“The Tower has been closed to the public while the police investigation continues,” the police said.
Historic Royal Palaces said the crown jewels were not damaged during the incident and confirmed the site had reopened “after closing temporarily as police investigated.”
Footage posted on X showed a group gathered around the display case before hurling food and dousing one side of the case in yellow liquid.
“Britain is broken. We come here to the jewels of the nation to take back power,” one of the protesters says.
Take Back Power, which describes itself as a civil resistance group, posted the video on X and claimed responsibility for the protest.
“Two Take Back Power supporters covered the glass containing the crown jewels in custard and apple crumble,” read a statement on its website, which refers to the organization as a “new nonviolent civil-resistance group.”
The website calls for the U.K. government to “establish a permanent citizen’s assembly — a House of the People, which has the power to tax extreme wealth and fix Britain.”
The case contained the Imperial State Crown, one of the crown jewels kept in the high-security museum at the Tower of London, one of the city’s oldest landmarks.
King Charles III wore the Imperial State Crown as he left Westminster Abbey following his coronation in 2023. It was made for the coronation of George VI in 1937, closely modeled on a crown made for Queen Victoria in 1838.
