Now that King Chuck has been crowned and we’re not likely to see another spectacle of such magnitude for another 20-30 years, I’m curious as to who did and didn’t watch and how it shakes down between Brits, residents of HRH’s other realms, and everyone else. For the purposes of this poll, answer “yes” if you watched a majority of the event either live or on replay.
I am a British citizen and I watched the coronation
I am a British citizen and I did not watch the coronation
I am a Commonwealth citizen and I watched the coronation
I am a Commonwealth citizen and I did not watch the coronation
Got off work around midnight (PST) had dinner and my Friday beer (Fort George Cavatica Stout) started watching, followed by watching the Kentucky Derby…which almost ran as long as the Coronation.
I watched until the churchiness and my desire for lunch caught up with me, then after lunch went to the pub, which had it on - just in time for the balcony bit and the flypast (such as it was).
I have only the vaguest memories of the 1953 version, which went on much longer and had much more of the mediaevalism (but less of the conscientiously inclusive elements). I 'm told we saw it on a neighbour’s TV, but all I recall is the over-the-top cinema film (Olivier at his most stagey, unbearable now) that we were taken to en masse from school. Well, that and the Coronation propelling pencil we were given (which I lost on the way home), and the teaspoon (which I still have).
I just assumed it would be on the bank holiday monday. By the time I found out it was on saturday, I’d made other plans.
Everyone I know who did sit through it, said that it was incredibly boring.
Canadian here and my wife and I watched some of it, more for the historic nature of it more than anything and I, as retired military, enjoyed picking out Canadian military among the commonwealth mil personnel.
I’m basically agnostic about the monarchy so if it was abolished in Canada, or not, I really wouldn’t care one way or another. However, assuming that a monarchy actually does serve some purpose (eg some sort of wise oversight over national something-or-other, gleaned from the wisdom of the ages blah blah blah), I was wondering while watching, how much monarchical stuff could be stripped away while still allowing that purpose to be served.
My wife and I were comparing the coronation to whatever we found online about other European monarchies and, though we knew that the other monarchies were significantly lower-key than the UK’s, until yesterday we did not know how much.
True story - I was in Den Helder in the Netherlands in the mid '80s with a NATO squadron and I met and drank with the then-crown prince (now King Willem Alexander) a few times, when he was a naval cadet going to their academy. He was a very nice guy to talk to and did not have any airs about him at all.
I’m Canadian and don’t consider myself either a monarchist or a republican. However, my present attitude is that while Canada retains the monarchy, I respect it as a national symbol. I liked the procession of representatives of the 15 Commonwealth Realms (the countries that have the King as head of state) with their respective flags, in alphabetical order.
I quite liked it, it seemed to have enough of the requisite pageantry while incorporating elements that recognize pluralism in modern society.
Interesting fact: while there’s still quite a number of monarchies in the world (12 in Europe), only the British (and Antiguan, Australian, Canadian, etc.) and Tongan ones go through have a coronation today.
No. I was worried it was going to be wall-to-wall TV coverage in the morning, like one of the weddings or the Queen’s funeral, but was pleased to find it was just a blip story on the news, only showing a couple of moments of “All hail the King” and a few words of William giving a speech.
I walked through the living room while Mrs. J. was viewing recorded coronation highlights. Stopped for a few moments to watch the elaborately costumed horsies, and to wonder who had the enviable duty of cleaning up after them.
As an American, I don’t care one way or another about the British monarchy, but I am a fan of liturgical celebrations. I recorded the coronation and watched it piecemeal yesterday.
I’m just the opposite. I was frustrated that as the procession was marching by in the background a pair of talking heads was speculating endlessly and ignorantly about the significance and relevance of the monarchy and Charles’s reign. I wanted to know about the uniforms and the bands and the regalia … in other words, that they’d covered it like they cover the Rose Parade.
Along with the money aspect, I had to sympathize with the military folks marching and standing for hours on end. I remember those days as the worst in my career. But the beer afterward is particularly refreshing.
Cost of 1953 Coronation: 2 million pounds.
Cost of 2023 coronation: 100 million pounds.
Every 4 years there is a presidential inauguration ceremony.
Cost of 2019 presidential inauguration: 107 million dollars raised, much from secret dark money sources. 25 million went to a PR firm with no oversight. Security alone cost taxpayers 100 million.
Cost of 2021 presidential inauguration: 44 million dollars raised.
You misunderstand. I’m against all of these tax dollar wastes, regardless of nationality. We have serious problems in this country that the money can be used for. Despite donations being used, there is still a large and unnecessary expense to the taxpayer. A judge can swear in a president in the oval office as easily as in front of a large crowd that requires huge resources.