Is the Celebration of the Century marred by splits and upsets in the Royal family?
All eyes are on the Royal Couple, King Charles III and Queen Camilla as they share a happy moment in this latest pre Coronation picture. Photo Buckingham Palace.
JUBILATION IN THE UK AS THE CURTAIN RISES FOR KING CHARLES III CORONATION
By SHAMLAL PURI in London
Associate Publisher & Senior Editor – UK
Worth Noting:
- “London is one of the most exciting and diverse cities in the world, and throughout the celebrations, we will be at the heart of and doing all we can to be connected with the people and communities we serve.”
- Addressing those in London during the celebrations, he said, “Our officers are here to help you; if you feel like something doesn’t look right, please speak with us.”
- Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his predecessors Theresa May, Boris Johnson, David Cameron, Sir Tony Blair and Sir John Major are there with their spouses.
- Some 2,200 specially-invited members of foreign Royal families, overseas dignitaries and guests from around the world, including Europe and the Commonwealth, are in the British capital to witness the crowning of King Charles III and Queen Camilla.
The United Kingdom’s simmering political and economic problems were put on the back burner this week as millions of Britons joined the euphoria to celebrate with pomp and pageantry the historic Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla at Westminster in London, today, May 6.
Charles, the eldest son of late Queen Elizabeth’s and the late Prince Philip, is the first British monarch to be crowned in the 21st Century.
Billed as the Celebration of the Century, thousands of street parties are being held throughout the country as the general public comes out in full strength to join in the festivities on the side-lines with all the razzmatazz.
There is no shortage of glamour and glitter at Westminster in the heart of London where history is in the making as an exclusive list of royals rub shoulders and raise their glasses to cheer the newly crowned King and Queen of the United Kingdom.
The Metropolitan Police, the Met for short, says there is tight security as 11,500 officers have been deployed to guard the event and protect VIPs. Police will enforce facial recognition technology.
More than 29,000 police officers are being deployed to guard the capital in a special operation, known as Golden Orb. It is one of the most significant and extensive security operations the Met has led.
There are more than 29,000 police officer deployments in the week up to Coronation Day and the rest of the Bank Holiday weekend.
The Met has been planning its operation for months, working closely with partners and colleagues at British Transport, the City of London Police, and Thames Valley Police. Colleagues from other forces have also joined the operation.
Senior officers have also worked closely in partnership with colleagues across Government, including the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Cabinet Office for several months.
Led by a highly experienced command team who have also been involved in delivering other recent significant events, the multi-layered security operation includes officers lining the processional route, managing crowds and road closures, protecting high-profile individuals, and carrying out searches with specialist teams.
Officers from the Met’s dogs unit, firearms unit, marine support, and Special Constabulary are also ready to respond to any incident or crime.
The Police are using facial recognition technology in central London. Their watch list focuses on those whose attendance on Coronation Day would raise public protection concerns, including those who are wanted for offences or have an outstanding warrant for arrest issued by the courts or those under relevant offender management programmes to keep the public safe.
Their tolerance for disruption will be low, whether through protest or otherwise. They have vowed to deal robustly with anyone intent on undermining this celebration.
Outside central London, for those enjoying the 1,800 registered events, local officers, cadets, and volunteers will be in their local communities looking after those attending street parties and engaging with residents.
They are focused on the celebratory events but also have a comprehensive plan for dealing with day-to-day incidents across London to ensure rapid response to those who need it.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Ade Adelekan said: “We want Londoners and visitors coming to the city to enjoy this historic and momentous occasion safely and securely.
“On Coronation Day, we will have the largest one-day mobilisation of officers seen in decades, with over 11,500 officers on duty.
“The weekend promises to be a spectacular celebration, and the Met police is honoured to be policing such an internationally important event across the capital.
“We have been planning for this occasion for some time; the Met has a long history of policing such events. We will draw upon our diverse expertise from across our organisation, using officers and specialist units to keep people safe and tackle any arising issues.
“London is one of the most exciting and diverse cities in the world, and throughout the celebrations, we will be at the heart of and doing all we can to be connected with the people and communities we serve.”
Addressing those in London during the celebrations, he said, “Our officers are here to help you; if you feel like something doesn’t look right, please speak with us.”
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his predecessors Theresa May, Boris Johnson, David Cameron, Sir Tony Blair and Sir John Major are there with their spouses.
Some 2,200 specially-invited members of foreign Royal families, overseas dignitaries and guests from around the world, including Europe and the Commonwealth, are in the British capital to witness the crowning of King Charles III and Queen Camilla.
The glittering list of foreign royals includes families from Japan, New Zealand, Thailand, Jordan, Bhutan, and Tonga.
Noticeable absentees include President Joe Biden of the United States, even though he was invited. Many Brits see this as a right royal snub. However, the first Lady Jill Biden is there as a consolation.
It is widely known that actress Meghan Markel, the controversial Duchess of Sussex, is not attending, having decided to stay home with her two children. She will instead celebrate her son Prince Archie’s fourth birthday, which falls on Coronation Day; King Charles’s son Harry, the Duke of Sussex, was expected to attend.
Prince Archie Harrison Mountbatten Windsor, King Charles’s grandson, is the sixth in the line of succession to the British throne.
This is largely viewed as a compromise, as the media speculated that Meghan was unwelcome at the ceremony due to alleged acrimonious relations and verbal spats between her and certain members of the royal family.
Undoubtedly, the royal family has been split over the years, mired in controversy even while the late Queen Elizabeth was alive.
Also missing is the Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson, the former wife of Prince Andrew, and the Duke of York, the controversial younger brother of King Charles.
The Duke of York has been accused of sexual abuse in a civil case in the US. His former friend, Ghislaine Maxwell, has been found guilty of recruiting and trafficking underage girls to be sexually abused by the late billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, who was also an ex-associate of the Duke.
According to the court documents, Ms Giuffre says the Duke sexually assaulted her on three occasions when she was under the age of 18.
Ms Guiffre said in the court documents that she was the victim of sex trafficking and abuse by Jeffrey Epstein from age 16. She alleges that part of her abuse involved being lent out to other powerful men – including Prince Andrew.
Andrew denied those allegations.
The Royals were upset with Andrew over his conduct and stripped him of royal responsibilities.
Ghislaine Maxwell is the daughter of the yesteryear’s publisher of the Daily Mirror tabloid, Robert Maxwell, who died in mysterious circumstances while on his private yacht at sea off the Canary Islands in Spain on November 5 1991.
Prince Andrew is no stranger to controversy. In his younger days, the racy tabloids gave him the ignominious label of Randy Andy because of his interest in adventurous and titillating life. Whether there was any mileage in their accusations or the tabloids were using their journalistic licence to badger him and boost their circulations is open to conjecture.
Years ago, I remembered watching a British comedy when the then Prince Charles and his former wife Princess Diana were going through a turbulent time in their relationship.
In this comedy show, a teenager stubbornly insists that she desperately wants to marry the wildly handsome young Prince William, still a young boy, only to get an angry, abrasive retort from the teenage girl’s screen mother “Do you know that family’s reputation?”
Comedy aside, times have moved on. The man who is now the King is well-settled and mature.
Fast forward to the 2020s, and the reality of senior royals is markedly different. They are more settled and mature with responsibilities on their shoulders.
Britons have lived in an era of cutbacks since the days of Covid-19 and the resultant lockdowns, so the Monarchy also saw it fit to slim down their list of invitees to the Coronation to a manageable 2,200.
The dramatic reduction is from some 8,200 guests who attended the 1953 Coronation of the late Queen Elizabeth II.
King Charles has broken the long-standing royal tradition by inviting kings and queens to join the celebrations.
Royal experts say that historically, for centuries, there was a convention that no other crowned royals should be present at the Coronation of the British monarch because the ceremony involved a sacred ritual and was intended to be an intimate exchange between the monarch and their people in the presence of God.
The tradition goes back nine centuries, but King Charles has cast this aside and decided to modernise the ceremony by inviting his crowned friends from European countries and rulers from the Middle East.
Leaders worldwide, British politicians and charity champions are at today’s celebrations.
They will join the British Royal family members, including King Charles’ children – the Prince and Princess of Wales – William and Kate, Prince Harry and King Charles’ younger brother Edward, the Duke and Sophie Helen Rhys-Jones, Duchess of Edinburgh.
The list of foreign royals attending the Coronation includes Prince Albert II of Monaco and his wife, Princess Charlene, King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia of Spain, King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden and his daughter, Crown Princess Victoria.
The next generation of royals was also not left out – King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands are with their daughter and heir, Princess Catharina-Amalia.
Queen Margrethe II. Of Denmark, whom Charles wanted to see at the Coronation, was sadly unable to attend as she is recuperating from painful back surgery.
Her son and daughter-in-law, Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary will represent the Danish Queen instead.
King Harald V and Queen Sonja of Norway are represented by their son Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit.
Emperor Naruhito of Japan is not attending but has sent his brother, Crown Prince Fumihito, and Crown Princess Kiko.
King Abdullah II of Jordan and his beautiful wife, Queen Rania, are here. The Dragon King of the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wanchuck, and his wife, Dragon Queen Jetsun Pema, are making a rare visit to the UK as one of the royal guests.
The Luxembourg Grand Ducal Royal family Grand-Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa, are here.
Belgium’s King Philippe and Queen Mathilde, close friends of King Charles, are among the royal guests.
Some 3,000 street parties are being held to mark the occasion during the three-day bank holiday weekend.
By the way, we journalists will be on duty these three days unless we call in sick and pray that we are not found by our editors downing a pint at the local pub!
Shops and stores are open to allow people to buy their celebratory food for tea parties.
An extra fizz of excitement is added at the British pubs reeling from their recent losses. They are hoping for a king size £120 million bonanza as a whopping 62 million pints will be raised in cheers to welcome the newly crowned King and his Queen.
Pub landlords have been allowed to stay open until late.
The commercialisation of this event has not gone unnoticed. Loyal fans of the Royal family dig deep into their pockets to snap up mementoes of the occasion.
Heritage Coins have issued special King Charles III commemorative 22-carat gold sovereign coins, which will become collectors’ items among numismatists, fetching high values. There are 2023 coins priced at £297.
The coin depicts an effigy of King Charles III by engraver Jody Clark.
The Royal Mint has issued its own set of commemorative coins of various denominations.
The eye-catching coin is a limited edition 1/40th ounce Gold Proof Coin finished in 999.9 fine gold and designed by artist John Bergdahl.
In recent weeks, Coronation memorabilia has been flying off the shelves. Thousands of Britons snapped whatever caught their interest.
The exclusive store for the wealthy Fortune and Mason displayed their shelves with innovative biscuit tins which sing the British national anthem!
This wind-up, tasteful tin of biscuits plays ‘God Save the King’ as it slowly revolves.
The offering of biscuits includes various UK hand-made varieties, including Fijian Ginger, Scottish Ling, Honey Biscuits, South African Milk Chocolate, Macadamia Nut and Clotted Cream.
Almost all significant corporates are also cashing into the Coronation excitement with their offering, such as biscuit manufacturers offering old traditional products in newly designed tins with the photo of the King.
Bread manufacturers have rolled out the same old loaf with a new packing marked Coronation Bread.
Hundreds of homeowners will display correx cut-outs of photos of King Charles in their windows.
There is no shortage of tea mugs with the photo of King Charles to give that feeling of excitement to those unable to attend street parties but enjoy sipping tea in their living rooms.
British national newspapers are agog with their special King Charles III supplements splashed with flattering headlines. And, publishers are also producing King Charles III books.
Indeed, this is a once in a lifetime occasion!
ends
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