And so many Britons criticize the ceremony, all the more because it promises to be a spectacular event. According to UK correspondent Lia van Bekhoven, the problem lies above all in costs: the coronation is expected to cost more than 250 million pounds. “And taxpayers pay for it,” she says. “Most of it is, of course, the safety of the dignitaries.”
“People are not that interested”
The fact that King Charles himself is said to be worth more than £2bn is also a thorn in the side of many Britons. But, Van Bekhoven points out, it’s not about the criticisms in the UK at all. “The criticisms aren’t too bad and they come from the angle you expect,” he continues. “The main thing is that people are not so fantastically interested.”
Less viewers
Opinion polls in the UK showed just a few weeks ago that fewer people would watch the coronation on TV than not. Van Bekhoven expects these numbers to rise. “There will be more people watching who try to ignore it completely,” she’s convinced. “But she proves that not everyone is looking forward to Saturday.”
This appears to be a different sentiment than when Queen Elizabeth II died in September, when thousands of Britons walked the streets with tears in their eyes. According to Van Bekhoven, the queen’s death was the definitive end of an era. “It was the last link to the colonial era, WWII, and this is really different,” he says. “You’ll also notice it in the way the British experience it. The Queen has always been very popular, but Charles’s popularity has fallen below that of her son William and daughter-in-law Catherine.”