Ceremonial Cardiff post box festooned with independence stickers as coronation gets underway

A specially decorated coronation post-box in Cardiff has been plastered with various Welsh independence stickers overnight.

Originally stickers were applied to the post-box within hours of it being unveiled outside the Owain Glyndŵr pub in Cardiff on Wednesday.

The Royal Mail postbox in Cardiff city centre was one of four across the UK to be repainted in celebration of the King’s crowning today (6 May).

Members of the public criticised the decision to place the post-box decorated with a Union Jack flag and the coronation’s official emblem nearby a pub named after a Welsh hero who led a fifteen year revolt to end English rule in Wales.

During his fight for Welsh independence, Owain Glyndŵr seized a number of walled towns and castles built by the English and was the last man, born and raised in Wales, to have the title of Prince of Wales.

Cardiff Council

While some commentators on social media appeared to predict and support the vandalism of the box, others, including Welsh Conservative councillor for Radyr and Morgantown Calum Davies, reported it to Royal Mail and Cardiff Council and by mid-morning on Thursday the stickers had been ripped off, but their outline remained visible.

Cardiff will be the centre of Wales’ coronation celebrations at the weekend, with a public screening of the ceremony being held in Cardiff Castle and a screening of the coronation concert taking place at Roald Dahl Plass.

Protest

A “Not My King” protest will also take place on the city’s streets, with people expected to gather by the statue of Aneurin Bevan on Queen Street from 12.30pm before a march takes place.

It will be followed by a “Big Republican Lunch” in Bute Park – a play on the name of the Big Coronation Lunches that communities have been encouraged to hold to mark the occasion.

The march will coincide with similar anti-monarchist protests expected to take place across the UK during the coronation event, including in London.

The organisers behind the protest in Wales, Cymru Republic, previously held a demonstration during the King’s visit to Cardiff following his accession to the throne.

Groups have been warned that under new laws to curb protests which came into force on Wednesday anyone found disrupting infrastructure such as roads, airports and railways will be dealt with swiftly and could face 12 months behind bars.

Republican protesters were arrested in London on Saturday morning prior to the ceremony getting underway.