King Charles III wants it both ways – he wants credit for being super-concerned about the cost of living crisis in the UK, but he also wants to blow tens of millions of dollars on his big coronation party. Charles and the rest of the working royals will probably be sent around to make empty-handed visits to food banks and charities working on poverty issues, then the king will hand out stolen jewels to his family in time for his flashy coronation. It’s a mess. Omid Scobie devoted his most recent Yahoo UK column to King Charles’s “let them eat cake” situation and Scobie is basically like “this is idiotic.” Some highlights:
The about-face on the size & expense of KC3’s coronation: Back in September, Palace sources confirmed that Charles wanted a ceremony that would not only reflect his vision for a more agile and modern monarchy, but also a “less expensive” one in light of the country’s ongoing economic struggles….But despite a coronation committee sallying forth with plans, three months later it has been decided by the King and ministers to ditch the leaner celebrations and go full fat. A larger scale event, it was decided, will be a great “advertisement” for the UK and a chance to showcase the “very best” of the country on the world stage, according to sources. (And, I would imagine, much-needed PR after the failure of Brexit and our revolving door of leaders.)
The coronation cost: When Queen Elizabeth II was crowned in 1953, it cost the nation £1.57m — today’s equivalent of £51m ($61m). For Charles, using the cost of security at events such as previous royal weddings as a benchmark, I calculate the figure could be inching closer to £100m ($120m) when factoring in the sophisticated operation it will require. Despite the estimated increased cost, Charles’ ceremony will be shorter and last between one and two hours (as opposed to his mother’s three-hour event) with rituals considered outdated or cumbersome cut to allow for the reduced run time. There are also expected to be far fewer attendees at the 2023 coronation: 2,000 compared to 8,000 at the late Queen’s.
Good lord: The big coronation spend comes less than a year after the nation spent millions on the Queen’s four-day Platinum Jubilee, and just 42 days before another show of royal pomp and circumstance for the monarch’s annual birthday parade, Trooping the Colour – Charles’s first – in June. Sure, London’s hospitality and tourism businesses will no doubt benefit from the day King Charles and Camilla, the Queen Consort are crowned, but it’s unlikely that many outside of the capital will feel the same boost.
The crass king: “Working people are struggling to pay rent and mortgages and feed their kids. It is utterly crass for Charles to demand a coronation that will be every bit as extravagant as the last one,” says Graham Smith, chief executive of anti-monarchy group Republic. “The coronation isn’t necessary, he is already King. This is all about promoting the monarchy and satisfying his ego.”
Extremely out of touch: While there is certainly a justifiable argument for a coronation of sorts – after all, this is a historic occasion – ramping up the cost and size of the spectacle while the UK faces unprecedented pressures on public spending appears extremely out of touch. It is a decision that fails to position King Charles as a man that truly understands the people he has spent the first four months of his reign meeting and connecting with — and one I think he may end up living to regret.
Yeah, here’s the thing: I understand the argument of “the coronation is an advertisement for Brand Britain,” but there are ways in which Charles could still have a pomp-filled coronation which isn’t such a huge burden to the British taxpayer. It isn’t “go cheap on everything” versus “spend millions all for Charles’s ego.” There is a middle ground. As I’ve said before, the stolen jewelry is already there. The gold carriages already exist. People will expect the pomp, just as they did with QEII’s funeral. But Charles and PM Sunak believe that they need to spend a crazy amount just to “rebrand” the country and it IS excessive, out of touch and yes, crass.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
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- King Charles III delivers his address to the nation and the Commonwealth from Buckingham Palace, London, following the death of Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday. Picture date: Friday September 9, 2022. . .,Image: 721402925, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR 48 HOURS- Fee Payable Upon reproduction – For queries contact Avalon sales@Avalon.red London +44 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles +1 310 822 0419 Berlin +49 30 76 212 251 Madrid +34 91 533 42 89, Model Release: no, Credit line: Avalon.red / Avalon
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- King Charles III during the Accession Council at St James’s Palace, London, where King Charles III is formally proclaimed monarch. Charles automatically became King on the death of his mother, but the Accession Council, attended by Privy Councillors, confirms his role. Picture date: Saturday September 10, 2022. . .,Image: 721404798, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR 48 HOURS- Fee Payable Upon reproduction – For queries contact Avalon sales@Avalon.red London +44 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles +1 310 822 0419 Berlin +49 30 76 212 251 Madrid +34 91 533 42 89, Model Release: no, Credit line: Avalon.red / Avalon
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- King Charles III and the Queen Consort at Westminster Hall, London, where both Houses of Parliament are meeting to express their condolences following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.,Image: 721928710, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Stefan Rousseau / Avalon
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- Britain’s King Charles III at the presentation of Addresses by both Houses of Parliament in Westminster Hall, inside the Palace of Westminster, central London on September 12, 2022, following the death of Queen Elizabeth II on September 8.,Image: 721936686, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Eddie Mulholland for The Telegraph / Avalon
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- Britain’s King Charles III speaks during the presentation of Addresses by both Houses of Parliament in Westminster Hall, inside the Palace of Westminster, central London on September 12, 2022, following the death of Queen Elizabeth II on September 8.,Image: 721936912, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: BEN STANSALL / Avalon
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- London, UK, 19th Sep 2022. King Charles III. Behind the Coffin, King Charles III walks with Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward behind him, followed by Prince William and Prince Harry and Peter Phillips, and others. The Queen Consort, Princess of Wales, Duchess of Sussex and others follow in cars. The funeral procession for Queen Elizabeth II makests way from Westminster Abbey to Buckingham Palace, via Horse Guards Parade and the Mall. People line the street and watch military personnel march, and the coffin pass along the route. The procession is led by massed Pipers and Drums of Scottish and Irish Regiments, The Brigade of Gurkhas, the Royal Air Force and a total of 6,000 representatives from all three Armed Forces.,Image: 724175863, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Imageplotter / Avalon
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- King Charles II and Camilla Queen Consort The State Funeral of Her Majesty The Queen, Gun Carriage Procession, Wellington Roundabout, London, UK – 19 Sep 2022,Image: 724224759, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: -, Model Release: no, Credit line: Anthony Harvey/Shutterstock / Avalon
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- King Charles III Attends Service Of Reflection For Queen Elizabeth II At St Anne’s Cathedral In Belfast Featuring: King Charles III Where: Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom When: 13 Sep 2022 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages.com/Cover Images **North America Rights Only**
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- King Charles III leaving Clarence House, London, ahead of the ceremonial procession of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall, London, where it will lie in state ahead of her funeral on Monday. Featuring: King Charles III Where: London, England, United Kingdom When: 14 Sep 2022 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages.com/Cover Images **North America Rights Only**
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- King Charles III leaving Clarence House, London, ahead of the ceremonial procession of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall, London, where it will lie in state ahead of her funeral on Monday. Featuring: King Charles III Where: London, England, United Kingdom When: 14 Sep 2022 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages.com/Cover Images **North America Rights Only**
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- State Funeral of Queen Elizabeth II held at Westminster Abbey in London. Featuring: King Charles III, Princess Anne, Princess Royal, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Peter Phillips Where: London, England, United Kingdom When: 19 Sep 2022 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages.com/Cover Images **North America Rights Only**
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- State Funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, held at Westminster Abbey, London. Featuring: King Charles III Where: London, England, United Kingdom When: 19 Sep 2022 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages.com/Cover Images **North America Rights Only**
Scobie’s getting better all the time.
I would argue that the whole monarchy is tacky, crass, and out of touch.
Well said Colby.
Or, and this is just a wild idea but hear me out, we could use the money to fund the pay increases desperately needed by so many that the government is merrily blocking. You know, the nurses who rely on food banks and all the others struggling to get by after massive real terms pay cuts year after year.
As Omid says, outside of the capital how big is the tourist boost really going to be? I do not believe this will generate revenue overall. Plus isn’t there going to be another bank holiday to hammer the economy a bit more?
No bread, just circuses.
Lol, we posted bread and circuses at the exact same time. Trooping of the Color will be the next month – there’s an opportunity for more pomp.
But it seems to me that if the government is unwilling to give out pay raises now, it won’t be any more willing if Charles has a scaled down coronation later. The government will just apply the savings to something else, or nothing at all. Charles doesn’t really have any control over the money, apart from presenting a coronation plan and having the government approve it. Of course, he could help out his patronages, food banks, etc., out of his own wealth, but we know that won’t happen.
Or perhaps to partially plug the gaping hole in NHS funding that the Tories promised Brexit would fill? I forget what the side of the busses said precisely but even from the US it is clear that Brexit had severely damaged the NHS and it cannot simply be blamed on COVID.
It is such a sad state of affairs for an institution (the NHS) that the UK was rightfully proud of.
Charles has clearly misread the year on the calendar. He must have read 1723 instead of 2023. But he insists on having his Marie Antoinette, “Let them eat cake”, moment. So let him. We all know how that turned out for the French aristocracy……
Big Ole Side note… Maire Antoinette likely never coined the phrase “let them eat cake/brioche”. It was referenced in a book written by some french dude when she was 9 and living in Austria and was a phrase attributed only to “a great princess”, which she was not until 1 year after the book was subsequently published when she was sent to France to marry Louis. It’s not even clear if the author didn’t just make the whole encounter up.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Let_them_eat_cake
More fascinating discussion on Marie Antoinette to be found here
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/marie-antoinette/id1380008439?i=1000471315447
I know Marie Antoinette probably never said exactly that, and that she probably was referring more to bread, than cake, but it was meant to show how out of touch Charles is with the present day needs of the masses in his insulated royal bubble; and where that same attitude landed the French aristocracy.
Charles and his arrogance and lack of good character are his own worst enemies. I know someone that worked with him for several years and believe me, however bad we think he is from what we’ve seen publicly, doesn’t begin to touch on how bad he actually is. I can’t even repeat the stories I’ve heard because it would jeopardize the source. But suffice it to say that however arrogant, entitled, racist, sexist, and obnoxious we think Charles is, take that amount and multiply it by 1,000 to get closer the true level.
It definitely follows the saying that when people show you who they are, believe them.
Yup.
It’s like bread and circuses, without the bread.
I came here to say the same thing (great minds on Celebitchy🙂). The whole goal is to distract: give the people enough circus, they won’t notice there is no bread.
Perfect.
Charles continues to show that he thinks everything is about him and what he wants. What a pathetic greedy brat. Imagine being a brat at 70 something?
You know he just absolutely feels he deserves a big bash considering how long he had to wait for it.
By the way, I remember reading a long time ago that some astrologer claimed that Chuck didn’t have the astrological placement that marked kingship. This person also claimed that Edward the 8th didn’t have it either – and he abdicated.
Charles is old and that infernal virus is still out there mutating. He may or may not make it to his coronation.
Of course, that leaves us with Bulliam and KKkhate.
Just clueless, stubborn, refusing to see the reality around him that is Charles completely.
I plan on NOT watching any of it. Doing my laundry is more interesting to me.
Let them eat tampons?
I agree – the gold, the jewels, the horses are there. People don’t know the ins and outs of all the rituals and no one wants to watch this for hours on end. You could do a nice procession, an hour of glittery glitter and that would be MORE than enough.
Chuck is showing his greedy brat side. After waiting for decades to inherit the job, he’s not about to exercise restraint or good judgment. He wants his party to be as big & splashy as he can make it. (I hope a wheel falls off his carriage.)
The establishment has been convinced that the world was in awe of the Queen’s funeral and that the same will hold for Charles coronation. It’s unnecessary and expensive.
I agree Amy.
I think all the huge pomp and parades that went with official events for The Queen kind of made sense simply because she was Queen for decades.
I was born in 1961 in USA and all the pageantry was in place my entire life.
She was a living link to history, and many people who lived thru WWII were very much invested in The Monarchy because they lost loved ones during that time.
The idea that Charles is “due” all this, is baloney.
Charles must see sense, a much more condensed coronation will be better met, I think.
FFS they’re already throwing eggs at the man. Read the room, Charles.
LOL! His hubris might encourage some to through other things at him. You never know…..
You can’t rebrand with the same old, same old, that made you look outdated in the first place. It will prove that Britain is all pomp with no substance. If you spend your whole fortune on the big ball, what are you doing the day after? If you consider a new reign as a new car, well, it’s going to be running on bald tires.
You’re so right. They haven’t figured out the whole rebranding thing. Their problem is that they don’t realize that people want a change. To use your new reign/new car analogy, they’re still using the same carriages from over 100 years ago while the rest of the world has moved on to Teslas.
I believe the old saw is “putting lipstick on a pig.”
You can’t polish a turd but you can roll it in glitter, as we say in the UK.
I’m going to use this at every opportunity.
LOL all day long! Thanks, Kiki!
Hahaha omg that is the definition of the British Royal Family
Remember the opening ceremonies for the London Olympics?
They didn’t try to one-up the preceding ceremonies in China, which were dazzling in scope, precision and spectacle. They went for heart and humor instead, featuring Mr. Bean, a Churchill speech reenactment, a dance parade of sorts by a diverse group of adorable young people, and a tribute to the NHS.
That was an advertisement for Brand Britain and it succeeded on every level, IMO. Of course you wouldn’t do something like that for a royal coronation, but they could take a page from the Olympics playbook, tone down the glitz and save the public some much-needed money.
Here is an idea.
Charles has a 1-2 hour ceremony including all the horses, gold carriage, the troops on horses, you know..the usual.
Then the ceremony itself, with the excellent jewelry and all.
Then…here is comes, something new…Charles includes in his short speech an announcement that he will donate $2Million (at min) of his personal wealth to (name any proven charity) in order to unite and benefit the citizens of UK.
Oh, I know. It will not happen IRL. Because wealth hoarders hoard. But I can dream.
2 million is absolutely nothing to him. Start with 200 million. Then proceed with divesting himself of massive amounts of land and other property, and that William will be following suit. Jewels and art will be repatriated. The money from the sale of other stuff will go to help people at home and abroad. He’d still be incredibly rich.
It will never happen. The BRF won’t give up anything unless it is pried from them, and even then, they’ve got offshore accounts.
I said a few weeks ago that it would make sense to me just combine the trooping with the coronation, if at all possible. So there’s a big holiday for the king in May and then another big one in June? Maybe skip the trooping this year Charles, IDK. It just seems like such a waste of money.
Very good idea to combine.
Combining the two events is an excellent idea. They could have a one hour coronation ceremony before the trooping and apply the millions of pounds in savings towards the – far more important IMO – services Flower listed below. And Charles could use some of his own enormous resources to host a fancy party for the bigwigs who gather to celebrate his coronation.
I am baffled anyone is for this with what’s going on in the UK right now.
Charles really should just surprise the heck outta the world and do Anything unexpected.
Take a page outta BlackAdder and in his “It’s good to be The King” speech….
“Hello, now that I am officially King Charles…here is the plan, #1. The men in grey who have mistreated my son and his family, are to be sent to London Tower.” #2. William, Myself and Harry will be working with excellent family therapists to rebuild our lives going forward. M-F 8-10AM do not disturb. #3. Andrew, will be ignored and/or sent away from the public ASAP.
I’m not creative or smart enough to come up with ideas for Charles to improve.
Start anywhere.
“with rituals considered outdated or cumbersome cut to allow for the reduced run time.”
The whole thing is outdated and cumbersome.
He could do what Willem-Alexander did in the Netherlands; they had a little pomp for his investment as King and then some great parties. But there was no crowning; I think it sat on a pillow along with the scepter, and Maxima busted out a fabulous tiara to wear with her outfit.
He’s been waiting his whole life for this. I don’t think he’s gonna cheap out on his own party just because of politics and people being broke there. So, not shocked.
Nothing says Modern Britain like a pomp-filled crowning of a king!
There is literally a £59 Billion hole in the UK budget (i.e. bizarrely the same amount as the UK’s failed test + trace COVID system + fraudulent COVID loans put together *tin foil hat*) and this is what they deem to be a priority as;
– Nurses & NHS staff (incl Doctors) are underpaid
– GPs are no longer accepting patients and buckling under the strain of seeing 30-35 patients a day (The UK has the worst GP to patient ratio in Europe, deemed so bad that the WHO has commented on it)
– UK Pharmacists are underpaid
– NHS Dentistry is now literally only provided in the worst case scenario – i.e. emergency surgery
– Rail workers are underpaid
– Royal Mail staff are underpaid
– Legal Aid Barristers are underpaid
– Teachers are underpaid
Add Brexit, a stagnating economy and a skills shortage due to Brexit to the above and the UK Govt have prioritised a fancy party for some 75 year old clown to put a fancy hat on his head.
No wonder people are mad.
How about returning those jewels and some reparations instead?
There’s also another big difference. The queen, for all her many faults we would discover later, was a lovely very YOUNG woman accepting the crown after the unexpected death of her father and a world war. Not to mention very little competition for eyeballs because those news reels just went everywhere.
Now we have fussy Old man Charles who decided to wage war on a pen on camera. Yeah, they’ll be lining up to see that….
A month later ask the average non Brit who is the ruler of England and see how many can come up with his name.
God, they are DISGUSTING.