Anjem Choudary proposed converting Buckingham Palace into mosque

Jurors at the Old Bailey have found Choudary guilty of supporting Islamic State

Radical preacher Anjem Choudary wanted to convert Buckingham Palace into a mosque, a court has heard.

Choudary is now facing jail after being found guilty of supporting Islamic State.

Jurors at the Old Bailey also heard he had suggested that under Sharia Law, Britain's monarchy would be abolished and "idols" such as Nelson's Column torn down.

In a video entitled Khalifah Vs The World, Choudary even digressed into an anecdote about the cleanliness of Londoners and the bathing habits of the Queen, the court heard.

He said: “You know, even now if you go to the toilets, you know, the public toilets the lavatories here in England there's tracing paper just rub it around and leave the toilet. Honestly, faecal matter everywhere in the public arena.

"It's not just me saying that, there are surveys they say that there is more faecal matter on the typewriter than there is in the toilet in the city of London. Why? because people don't clean themselves. They say 'oh look these Muslims clean themselves', of course we do...

"I once gave a talk and I said Queen Elizabeth used to have one bath a year. I gave this talk in a church and there was a woman there at the front, an elderly lady, and she kind of shrieked at me. She said: 'that's a lie, she had two baths a year.'

"Two baths a year okay, fair enough, twice as much, still doesn't make it a lot, does it, a year? Doesn't make it that clean."

Giving evidence at the Old Bailey, Choudary clarified that he did not mean the current monarch - he was actually referring to Elizabeth I.

He told jurors that he would deliberately "bait" mainstream media to win a platform to get across his message of spreading Islam worldwide.

In the months after IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared a Caliphate in June 2014, the London-born Sunni Muslim said he gave between 60 and 70 interviews.

Despite engaging with "biased" journalists, Choudary told jurors that he did not rely on the media for news of what was going on within IS territory, even though he said he had no direct contacts in the area.

Asked by his lawyer Mark Summers QC if he would describe himself as a self-publicist, Choudary said: "People are not going to listen to your message unless they know who you are."

On his controversial style, he said: ”A lot of things people shy away from, if I was asked what does Islam say about a person who would steal, I would say it is to cut their hand and foot. A lot of people do not want to talk about that.

“My own style is to speak the truth whether people like it or not. Because there are so few people talking about these topics, it leaves a vacuum.

"I would use that as a vehicle for the wider explanation. If it was about stoning an adulterer I would use it to talk about social systems. I would use that as a platform to pass on my message."

With additional reporting by PA