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By Jack Royston
Chief Royal Correspondent
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A protester who threw eggs at King Charles III would have been "highly unlikely" to do the same to Queen Elizabeth II, anti-monarchy campaign group Republic told Newsweek.
The king and Camilla, Queen Consort, visited York in northern England to unveil a statue of Elizabeth that had been intended to mark her Platinum Jubilee earlier in 2022.
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As the royal couple walked past crowds of fans, a man threw around four eggs at them, which appeared to miss and land on the road beside them.
Footage showed a protester being arrested and carried away by police while Charles and Camilla continued with their royal visit. North Yorkshire Police confirmed a 23-year-old man had been apprehended.
Graham Smith, chief executive of anti-monarchy campaign group Republic, told Newsweek that attitudes to the royals have been changing since the death of the queen on September 8.
Smith said: "I think it's highly unlikely anyone would have thrown an egg at the queen. I don't remember anyone doing that. It's very different with Charles quite clearly.
"We've had him and William getting booed, and we've had various protests at the accession. Attitudes are now very different. Colonialism has also become an issue and, more and more, they are seen as being attached to that legacy."
Prince William was booed twice in 2022 including by Liverpool football fans during the FA Cup Final in London in May and also at a pub in Sheffield, Yorkshire, on July 31.
Charles was also booed on a visit to Wales in September, just 16 days after the queen's death.
The queen had been egged before, but it happened in New Zealand rather than Britain, in February 1986, while she was riding in a car with Prince Philip through crowds in Auckland.
Politicians who have been egged in Britain include the Labour Party's John Prescott, who was hit with an egg by farm worker Craig Evans in May 2001.
The police took no further action, though Evans did experience some street justice after then-deputy Prime Minister Prescott punched him in the face.
U.K. politician Nigel Farage was hit with an egg in Nottingham, England, in 2014 by protester Frederick Glenister, who was given a 12-month conditional discharge and ordered to pay £200 costs.
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Smith said the protester in York who threw the eggs at Charles should face no greater punishment than he would have done had he egged a politician.
Smith said: "I think arresting and prosecuting someone might be over-egging [overdoing] it. My main thought would be that this needs to be dealt with proportionately.
"There should be no additional action taken just because this is the king and not a prime minister.
"If this was done to a politician, I'd imagine there wouldn't be an awful lot of repercussion. If that's the case, then the same should be with him," added Smith.
Charles continued with his engagements in York and went on to unveil the statue of his late mother as planned.
In a speech, the new king said: "When this statue was first planned five years ago, during a reign of unprecedented duration and achievement, it was intended as a celebration of the late queen's Platinum Jubilee.
"Now, as we have witnessed, with great sadness, the passing of that reign, it is unveiled in her memory, as a tribute to a life of extraordinary service and devotion."
Charles added: "The creation of this statue is also, if I may say so, a tribute to the support, affection and prayers that the community of this cathedral, and of this great city, always gave the late Queen, and all for which she stood in the life of the nation and the Commonwealth."
A North Yorkshire Police press release said: "A well-rehearsed security operation was in place to ensure the safety of the King and Queen Consort. A 23-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of a public order offense, following an incident on Micklegate in York. He currently remains in police custody."
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