Anti-royalist planned to throw manure at Prince Charles and wife Camilla

Sam Bracanov, 74, confessed to the press that he had purchased horse manure and mixed it water intending to throw it at the British heir to the throne.

Despite pleading not guilty to preparing to commit an assault, he later told the press: "I would have done it".

He said the plan was a protest at Charles' privileged position.

"He didn't qualify with his brain, he qualified with his body, and what (the) body produce(s) goes to toilet, so I would hit him with what goes to toilet," he said.

Bracanov, described by police as "a known anti-royalist", was arrested on Monday shortly before the royal couple met crowds on the Auckland waterfront as part of a tour to mark Queen Elizabeth II's diamond jubilee.

He reportedly attempted a similar action when Charles visited in 1994, trying to spray air freshener at him to "remove the stink of royalty".

In 1988, he threw a bucketful of horse manure at a car carrying King Juan Carlos of Spain on a state visit to New Zealand and was convicted of disorderly behaviour, Australia's Fairfax Media reported.