Edinburgh Castle's 'capture' by protesters citing Magna Carta was just as hilarious as Citizen Smith – John McLellan

“Debbie, film this. Get this on social media...” It may be the most besieged place in Britain, but none of the attempts to wrest control of the symbolic seat of power will have been quite as bizarre as Tuesday’s Edinburgh Castle “occupation”.
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Although they appeared to have some sort of anti-lockdown agenda, it wasn’t entirely clear what the protesters were after, or how they intended to turn a dash past the box office into a mandate for supreme executive control.

“We are here to restore the rule of law, article 61 of Magna Carta, we are sovereign beings,” declared one, apparently called Angelina and presumably president-select of the new regime, to rather bemused Historic Scotland guides and police officers stifling their sniggers.

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Despite the Magna Carta not having anything to do with Scotland, maybe she was indeed a descendant of the 25 barons who claimed the right to seize castles under the Great Charter of 1215 if King John was up to no good.

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“Crawf, come and speak, you know the law,” she said, suddenly realising her grasp of constitutional history might not be up to scratch.

“Get on the phone to Patrick,” she ordered, realising the dream of freedom in Scotia Utopia might be slipping from their grasp. “Where are they, Richard? There’s more police coming.”

Making Wolfie Smith of the 70s sitcom Citizen Smith look positively statesmanlike, the video certainly matched Robert Lindsay’s character for comedy value. And after varying degrees of lockdown for 18 months and the absence of a proper Festival Fringe, we could all do with a laugh.

Edinburgh Castle is described as the most besieged place in British history (Picture: Andy Buchanan/AFP via Getty Images)Edinburgh Castle is described as the most besieged place in British history (Picture: Andy Buchanan/AFP via Getty Images)
Edinburgh Castle is described as the most besieged place in British history (Picture: Andy Buchanan/AFP via Getty Images)
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John McLellan is a Conservative councillor for Craigentinny/Duddingston

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