UK coronation fever yet to take hold

LONDON – Kirtesh Patel’s market stall in north London has everything a royal fan could want, from Charles III keyrings and spoons to thimbles with the king’s face on them.

The only thing missing is customers, with just a week to go until Charles’s set-piece coronation at Westminster Abbey on May 6.

The last coronation was held 70 years ago in 1953, when huge crowds turned out to witness the formal investiture of the king’s mother, Queen Elizabeth II.

This time round, there appears to be little of the same public fervour.

A poll in mid-April indicated that nearly two-thirds of Britons were not interested in the ceremony, unlike last year when Elizabeth celebrated her record 70th year on the throne.

Patel, 44, sees it reflected in his sales.

“Fewer people are buying things than for the jubilee,” he complained at his Walthamstow market stall, which offers £6 ($7.50) coronation mugs and £3 key rings.

“There’s less interest for this king.”

Public familiarity with Charles could be one reason, taking the shine off his popularity after seven decades as the popular Elizabeth’s heir apparent.

The elderly king, 74, and his wife Camilla, 75, also have none of the youthful glamour of his eldest son and heir, Prince William, 40, and William’s wife, Kate, 41.

And harsh financial realities, with inflation stuck stubbornly at more than 10 percent, have meant hard-pressed Britons have other priorities than coronation trinkets.

OUT FOR A WALK

Nearby on the market, retired teacher Carole McNeil, 82, insists she is not “anti” the monarchy but is angry about the cost of the coronation, which is paid for by the taxpayer.

“I’ll watch the ceremony, at least partly,” she says. “It costs too much… It should be a smaller ceremony.

“When you hear the amount of money they (the royal family) have. Why aren’t they paying themselves?”

Rose Veitch is a self-described republican, but unlike some is not going to be on the streets and protesting on coronation day.

“I’m not going to watch. If it’s a nice day, I’ll have a walk in the country, trying not to think about the monarchy,” she says.

Others are looking forward to a long weekend of festivities, which culminates with a public holiday on May 10.

Peter Haseldine was aged five in 1953 and remembers being taken to The Mall, which leads to Buckingham Palace, to celebrate the new queen.

“What a crowd!” he said.

“God save the king!” his wife, Lynne Jones, chips in. “I’m a big supporter of the monarchy. The older generation is more supportive.”

IT’S COMPLICATED

While some people are either for or against, there are others in the middle, like Louisa Keight, 25.

“I haven’t thought about it yet,” she admits. “Maybe I’ll watch but with an academic perspective. My feelings towards the monarchy are complicated.

“I don’t think they should exist but as they are here…”

For Keight, who works in public relations, the death of the queen last September was “the first step of the royal family becoming more obsolete”.

But she is sure of one thing at least: the public holiday that rounds off the weekend of celebrations.

“I’m very excited about the bank holiday!”

To mark the coronation, Britons have been invited to host neighbourhood parties to foster a greater sense of community.

But even here there is ideological feuding.

In one part of north London a proposal to host a coronation street party lit up the local community’s WhatsApp group.

An agreement of sorts was finally reached with the monarchists holding their party and the “anti” brigade joining them later.

“Then we have a massive, pitched battle to decide the future of the country,” they joked.