Arrested man told to stay away from royals

Sam Bracanov has been ordered to stay more than 500 metres from the royal couple at all times. Photo / Greg Bowker

Anti-royalist Sam Bracanov says he had planned to throw a bucket of horse manure at the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall before he was arrested yesterday.

Bracanov, 76, said today it had been his first chance to protest against the royals after his plan to spray an aerosol at Prince William last year was thwarted by police.

Bracanov told media outside Auckland District Court today that police officers had tricked him by driving him "far away'' from where Prince William was visiting during the young royal's visit in March last year.

Bracanov's alleged plan yesterday was also foiled when he was arrested on Auckland's Queen St after security cameras allegedly caught him in the city with his bucket of manure.

The royal couple were due to arrive for a walkabout to meet the public shortly after he was arrested just after midday.

The Yugoslavia-born protester said that he would not follow Prince Charles or Camilla for the rest of their New Zealand tour after Community Magistrate Jan Holmes today ordered him to stay 500m away from the royal pair.

"Once [Prince Charles] goes away from Auckland I'm not going after him,'' Bracanov said.

"Once is enough. And then there's always next time, there will always be next time.

"Next time I might be successful.''

Bracanov was granted bail after pleading not guilty in Auckland District Court to a charge of preparing to commit a crime against the Prince and Duchess.

Bracanov, whose full name is Castislav Bracanov, said pleading guilty would endorse the royal family and what he described as them stealing money from New Zealanders.

He said he had paid $2 for the bucket of manure.

"I tried to give them what they're qualified with. They're qualified not with their brain, they're qualified with their body,'' Bracanov said.

"You've got to respect what brain produce, not body. Body produce go to the toilet, so I prepared bucket of s***.''

Bracanov said he had been in jail seven times for incidents involving members of the royal family and was not bothered by the order to stay away from them.

"I won't do it [again this week], I've done it once. I was not successful but there's always next time,'' he said.

"You can't be always successful.''

While most of those who braved the rain to see Charles and Camilla were supportive of the royal visitors yesterday, there were a small number of protesters, holding placards accusing them of being "royal bludgers" and yelling, "I don't want to pay for your holiday".

The arrest made headlines in the UK, with the Telegraph, Daily Mail, ITV, and Sky News reporting the story.

A royal source told Sky News the arrest was an isolated incident.

"The royal couple couldn't have been welcomed more warmly as they conducted their walkabout during a successful day in Auckland."

Charles and Camilla have the day off today after a packed Monday full of public appearances.

- additional reporting nzherald.co.nz