King’s College London (KCL) spent £37,162 on legal fees for protest-related matters between January 2024 and January 2026, a Freedom of Information request has found.
King’s also sought unrelated legal advice during this period, but was included in broader legal bills which cover other unrelated matters.
A further £4,000 and £225 counsel fees were incurred for land registry searches to determine whether King’s or Westminster City Council owned areas of the land.
Compared to other major universities, King’s has spent a lower figure on protest-related legal advice. University of Cambridge spent £402,868 and Queen Mary University of London spent £246,513 on legal advice relating to protests on campus.
However in addition to this an investigation reported last week that King’s was among 12 Universities who paid over £440,000 to intelligence firms for services related to pro-Palestine activism on campus.
Since January 2024 various protests have occurred across KCL campuses, including the Pro-Palestine encampments that took place between May to August 2024 and re-started in May 2025.
The first escapement was dissolved as a result of an eviction deadline given by KCL. Their demands focused on condemnation of the genocide in Gaza, boycotting of Israeli academic institutions, divesting, assisting in rebuilding Gaza’s education and safeguarding freedom of speech for students.
In October 2025, protests arose in solidarity with expelled King’s student Usama Ghanem, after he faced deportation for his actions at previous protests. Students told Roar they were concerned about protesting without face coverings following this.
On the two year anniversary of October 7 in 2025, pro-Palestine protests were also held at Strand Campus, despite the UK Government criticising the decision to protest.
Pre-arranged student protests have been frequently met with external counter-protestors. On 11 December 2025, pro-Palestine students launched an ’emergency protest’ after representatives from the Israeli Embassy visited Strand Campus. Numerous counter protestors were present, with students reporting violence and threats made towards them.
A spokesperson for King’s College London said:
“We have a long history of activism and protest at King’s, and support the right to protest. We have a duty to ensure that protest activity is safe, lawful, and does not infringe upon the rights of others to their freedom of expression, and where needed we will seek external legal support in helping us to uphold this duty.”
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