Questions raised about royals' security

LONDON, Dec. 10 (UPI) -- British Prime Minister David Cameron promised a review of royal security Friday following the attack on a car carrying Prince Charles and his wife.

Protesters against tuition hikes outside Parliament in London splashed the prince's Rolls-Royce with paint and broke a window Thursday afternoon, shouting "Off with their heads." Charles and Camilla, duchess of Cornwall, who were on their way to a Royal Variety Show in central London, were not injured.

Cameron said police were not to blame, the BBC reported. But he also said "lessons must be learned."

"Responsibility for smashing property, for violence, lies with the people that perpetrate that violence and I want to see them arrested and punished," the prime minister said.

Dai Davies, a former head of the royal protection, told the BBC he thought the response to the demonstration showed a lack of planning.

"One of the principles of protection is to have alternative routes and I would have expected there to be at least three different routes," he said.

Sir Paul Stephenson, commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, called the attackers "thugs" and said there would be an investigation of the assault on the car. He praised Charles and Camilla for their calm response and said police showed "commendable restraint."

Officers had cleared the route along Regent Street and checked it shortly before the prince was expected to travel, but they were surprised by the unpredictable demonstrators, Stephenson said.