On Saturday, May 6, the coronation of Charles III and Camilla takes place in London. The UK is the only European country that still crowns its monarchs. This ceremony is symbolic and religious in nature - Charles officially became king on the same day that his mother Elizabeth II died.
The first coronation took place in 1066. Charles will be the 40th British monarch to be crowned in Westminster Abbey. Spectators will see several lavish processions and witness how the British royal family strives to uphold traditions that are over a thousand years old while modernizing the monarchy. Charles strives to present himself as a reformer.
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Interest in the coronation is huge. Hundreds of thousands of people have flocked to London over the past few days to witness this historic event. It is impossible to find a free room in hotels.
Viewing platforms are installed along the entire route of the royal procession. Access to them was opened on May 6 at 06:00 am London time. By now, thousands of policemen have taken their places.
They have a lot of work during these three days - in addition to the usual weekend, the government added one more day in honor of the coronation. On Monday, May 8, His Majesty’s subjects will continue to celebrate.
From the experience of previous similar mass celebrations, it is safe to assume that the streets and pubs will be full of people who will not be able to correctly calculate their ability to drink.
But not only drunks will be the concern of the police. Not everyone in the UK supports the monarchy. So, during a recent football match, Liverpool fans chanted using obscene language: “Push your coronation in one place!” And on May 6 in the morning in central London, the police detained a group of anti-royalists waving posters “Not my king.” Their leader exclaimed the same words in a megaphone.
Opponents of the monarchy believe that it has long outlived its usefulness and is a burden on taxpayers. Every year, the British royal family receives about 100 million pounds from the budget for their needs. It is estimated that a ceremony in Westminster Abbey would cost the treasury the same amount!
However, many economists say that the popularity of the royal family around the world more than pays for these costs and annually brings tens or even hundreds of millions of income to the British economy. And the coronation will set a new record in this sense. Souvenirs specially issued with the symbols of this ceremony, chips, muffins, chocolate, cookies, beer and many other goods were literally swept off the shelves in supermarkets.
The security measures taken in London are unprecedented. Delegations from most countries of the world, including Ukraine, arrived at the coronation. Our country is represented by First Lady Elena Zelenskaya. Delegations of other countries are headed mainly by heads of state and government. Among those whom the British government and Buckingham Palace deprived of the right to attend the coronation were Russia, Belarus, Iran, North Korea.
The public will be seated on both sides of Chalk and Whitehall Streets (processional route) on a first come, first served basis. Those who do not get a place will be sent to Hyde Park, Green Park and St. James Park. Huge screens have been installed there, on which a live broadcast of the ceremony will be displayed.
Stands for invited guests have been set up at Buckingham Palace. They include veterans of the armed forces, employees of the National Health Service and social workers.
The actual procession, which will move from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey at 10:20 London time, will be attended by just under 200 troops from the regiments of the Palace Cavalry, the personal bodyguard of the British monarch. They are already waiting for the procession to begin.
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Another 1,000 troops lined up along the procession’s route.
Charles and Camilla have already arrived at Buckingham Palace. They were delivered in a Bentley limousine.
Until 11:00 (it will be one in the afternoon in Kyiv), the king and queen must take their places in Westminster Abbey.
Source: Fakty
I am Joseph Zeman, a journalist who mostly covers world news for the Daily News Hack. I pride myself on being able to find and report stories that others might miss. I have a knack for being able to see both sides of every issue and this allows me to provide readers with well-rounded stories. In addition to my work as a journalist, I am also an author and have written several books on current affairs.
