London ? Thank goodness for the royal family. The resolute refusal of the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall to be intimidated by the barracking, threats, and outright violence they suffered is admirable, and sets an example for the rest of us to follow. As we report today, the heir to the throne and his consort will not allow what happened to alter their intensive program of public engagements; and, while hoping that those responsible for the attack face justice, they do not expect or desire that particularly condign punishments should be handed out.

Their restraint is particularly impressive given that the Dec. 9 incident could have turned into something very ugly indeed. Mobs quickly lose all sense of restraint. Passions, once ignited, can rapidly escalate into lethal violence. We shudder to think what could have taken place had Nick Clegg and David Cameron been the passengers. That is why it is particularly important that there is a thorough inquiry into what happened: the same mistake must not be repeated.

The serious blunder that led to the royal couple being driven through a group of 300 demonstrators who broke off from the main event in Parliament Square has already raised questions about the judgment of the protection officers from the Metropolitan Police who are responsible for the prince’s security. There are also questions about how the police dealt with other aspects of the demonstration. We do not underestimate the difficulties of controlling between 20,000 and 30,000 very angry people — most of them young and fit — and by and large, the police discharged that task reasonably well.