Riveting stuff, not only as a portent of European unrest in the age of austerity — note the guy shouting “off with their heads” in the second clip — but as an unlikely confrontation between two verrry different symbols of entitlement. The Daily Mail has a report and, as always, phenomenal photos:

One protester who witnessed the attack said: ‘We were headed up towards Regent Street and there didn’t seem to be a lot of police about and people were throwing things at shops.

‘Then out of nowhere came this car and when you looked into it you could clearly see Prince Charles and Camilla inside it looking incredibly confused.

‘We all stood there for a millisecond in stunned silence and then people started lunging towards the car from all sides. It all happened very quickly.’

The rear window of their Rolls was smashed, but they got off easy. All told today, 12 cops were hurt and various shop windows were broken and monuments defaced, including a statue of Churchill, natch. And all for naught: The bill, which tripled tuition, passed by a slender 20-vote margin.

Exit question: Charles didn’t get any heads up beforehand that he’d be driving straight through a violent mob of 20,000 people? Mmmmmm, that’s good security.