Less than 24 hours from the coronation of Charles and Camilla, it’s the excitement on the “Mall”, the long avenue that starts from Buckingham Palace. The biggest fans of the monarchy are already there, in a festive atmosphere, under the amused and rather conquered gaze of tourists.
Hundreds of tents are lined up on this artery, in the front line to see the sumptuous procession which will leave Buckingham to go to Westminster Abbey on Saturday at 10:20 a.m. (09:20 GMT).
But the time is not yet for the solemnity. It looks like a costume party with the theme of course, “kings and queens”. Extravagance is welcome. “It’s a royal party” reads a tent.
A man with a golden crown on his head, the British flag (Union Jack) on his shoulders, poses next to a life-size poster of Charles. One woman opted for a beefeater costume, named after those guards who have become a symbol of the United Kingdom.
Five friends, happy sexagenarians, in suits jacket trousers covered with hundreds of Union Jack, spent the night under the tent. They’re used to it: they were there last year for Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee, celebrating her 70-year reign, and also for the Queen’s funeral in September.
“We will see perfectly tomorrow,” they congratulate each other. “Being here together for the coronation is what makes us Britons,” proclaim these women from the Midlands, in central England.
“It’s so exciting,” 57-year-old Karen Chamberlain said enthusiastically as she arrived at the Mall with her big backpack and tent. She is going camping with her sister, her husband and their eight-year-old son.
“None of us have experienced a coronation,” said Karen, who works for a charity near Birmingham. “Our mother also came in 1953 (for the coronation of Elizabeth II, editor’s note). Being here is a way of saying that we are proud of our monarchy”.
Journalists from around the world, some live on television, zigzag between the tents. The “bobbies”, the London police officers, guide, smiling, this small crowd, which will not stop growing. Groups of passing tourists observe, amazed, the spectacle.
Bill Powell, a 52-year-old Canadian from Toronto, visited “the Mall” as soon as his plane landed on Wednesday. As for the jubilee, he is camping with a Canadian friend established in England. They installed the Canadian flag on the gates.
“Meeting the eyes of the royal family is incredible. You can’t imagine what it’s like just by watching television.”
He does not think that Canada, where Charles III holds the office of head of state, will become a republic. “Some people want Canada to become a republic because they don’t know Charles yet,” he wants to believe. “The king’s priority is his country, tradition, while that of politicians is their own interests”.
“I can’t imagine what it’s like to start the biggest job of your life at 74,” his friend, Mary Foster, comments about Charles.
“Being here is great,” says Ilana Trevisan, a 41-year-old Frenchwoman who traveled from Marseille with her mother and daughter especially for the coronation. “We are a fan of the monarchy”, she proclaims, without however regretting that France is a republic. “My mother wanted me to marry William when I was little!”.
They are seduced by the atmosphere on the Mall and think of joining the English met a little earlier under a tent, from two o’clock on Saturday. “But if I listened to myself, I would sleep here,” says Ilana’s mother, Brigitte Abergel, despite her 62 years.
05/05/2023 15:28:40 – London (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
