Hunt protesters go home to heroes' return

Their "FCUK yer ban" T-shirts swapped for white police-issue boiler suits, the eight men who invaded Parliament were released today.

The men were allowed out of Charing Cross police station after being held for more than 24 hours. Most of the them were given lifts by waiting friends.

But rock star's son Otis Ferry and royal chef Nick Wood were ushered away in a blacked-out car, thought to be from a tabloid Sunday newspaper.

All eight - Ferry, Wood, Luke Tomlinson, John Holliday, Andrew Elliot, Richard Wakeham, David Redvers and Robert Thame - were bailed and ordered to return to a central London police station next month.

The men have been promised a hero's welcome when they return to their respective shire homes - icons of rebellion against New Labour " dictatorship" for a movement bloodied in the battle that raged in Parliament Square on Wednesday. "They'll be getting free drinks for life in the local pub," said Donald Haden, a former joint-master of the Ledbury Hunt, with which three of the men - Holliday, Redvers and Elliot - have close links. "The Government has got to realise it is taking on the middle classes. No government has taken on the middle classes and won."

There is growing speculation that Princes William and Harry, both friends of Tomlinson and Thame, could have known about the men's plans to invade the chamber.

A close friend of the princes said: "They are passionate about hunting and their father feels very strongly about the issue too.

"They went on the roof of St James's Palace during the last big Countryside Alliance march in London. By allowing themselves to be photographed, they demonstrated their support.

"Privately they share the same views about the ban on hunting as their friends. But that does not mean they would risk breaking the law. They know that is not on."

It has also been noted that some of the men's families move in the same circles as Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles. Tomlinson's parents follow the Beaufort Hunt alongside the Prince and Mrs Parker Bowles.

The eight face charges of uttering a forged instrument; burglary with intent to commit criminal damage; and violent disorder after they used a fake House of Commons letter to enter the Palace of Westminster.

There are fears of more direct action to come. Some within the countryside movement want to adopt more militant tactics, such as road blockades.

These were used by pro-hunt supporters to disrupt the arrival of guests at Cherie Blair's 50th birthday celebrations at Chequers last weekend.