Campaigners have this week written to every police force in the country, asking for reassurances that they will not interfere in "peaceful and meaningful" protest against the monarchy.

Campaign group Republic has also called on the Metropolitan police to ensure such protests can take place at the coronation. The group is planning a major protest near Westminster Abbey and along the procession route.

Speaking for Republic, Graham Smith said today:

"It is absolutely essential that dissenting voices can make their presence heard at the coronation. The coronation is a pointless spectacle that will cost the country tens of millions of pounds, all to promote a hereditary monarch."

"Support for the monarchy is falling and the new King has not inherited the deference enjoyed by the Queen. Now is the time for a serious public debate about the future of the monarchy."

"The police have a duty to ensure that peaceful, meaningful protests can go ahead. The arrests following the King's accession are cause for serious concern, so I have written to all the chief constables in the country, asking for reassurances."

"I am also asking Commissioner Mark Rowley to ensure his officers liaise with protest organisers and ensure protests can go ahead peacefully at the Coronation."

The letter says:

"The monarch is a public figure like any other, one who is openly criticised and who is opposed by as many as one in four people in the UK. As with any other public figure, the king must expect to encounter protest from time to time, and the police must apply the same rules as would be applied to any other protest."

"If the prime minister were heckled, your officers would not interfere. If someone held up a sign – in full view of the prime minister – objecting to their policies, your officers would not intervene. The same must be true of protests directed at the king, whether a single heckler, a small band of people waving placards or a larger protest."

Read the full letter