On the eve of the coronation, the television sets set up in front of Buckingham Palace. The BBC presenter interviews Englishmen, dressed in the colors of the country, who camp along the Mall, the avenue which leads to the palace, to have a front row seat on Saturday during the most impressive procession since the coronation of the Queen Elizabeth II.
The press broadcast images of the final rehearsal of the guards and their horses accompanying an empty carriage. And also those of a false couple Harry and Meghan who caused a sensation among the curious. “The atmosphere is already setting in here,” smiled a BBC reporter. A Sky News royal correspondent recounts her visit to Westminster Abbey, where the ceremony will take place: “The stage is set for the show. »
In the midst of media from all over the world, how do you show originality? For a journalist from the Mirror, it is necessary “to try to identify with the royal family, mission by nature impossible”. “During the ceremony, there will be some boring moments, so we are planning body language experts who will read faces and interactions. According to her, the stories that work best are those of the royal children, and Kate is “right now” the most popular.
At the Mirror editorial office, a coronation desk has been dedicated to covering the event for several weeks and the whole office will be mobilized on D-Day, “so that, in fifty years, we can have an accurate picture of what happened “. This Friday, Kate and William are making headlines in the tabloids, pint in hand: they went to a pub on the subway – admittedly, well guarded. “Cheers!” headlines the Sun.
But beyond these festive images, the press retains a critical spirit. A controversy has occupied the scene these days: the tribute to the king, traditionally reserved for the peers of the kingdom, will be extended to the people, as announced by the Archbishop of Canterbury. A simple “invitation”, he corrected in the face of mockery. “It’s more like a Stalinist people’s republic,” writes a Daily Mail columnist.
TalkTV host Piers Morgan, though a fervent defender of the monarchy, would rather be “garotted” than swear allegiance to the heirs to the crown, Princes Harry and Andrew. On the ITV show, Loose Women, the question is posed to the audience: will you swear allegiance to the king? Nobody raises their hand. Charles’s biographer, Jonathan Dimbleby, believes that even the king would have found the idea “odious”.
For the sake of objectivity, the Sky News documentary My King, my Country? questions inhabitants of the four corners of the country unfavorable to the monarchy. Among them: members of the Republic movement, the founder of Black Studies at the University of Birmingham, or even Scots. “Whether you like it or not, this coronation will take place,” the journalist concluded. What is less certain is whether we will see another. The BBC also gives voice to those who, out of conviction, will not watch the coronation.
There remains the cost of the festivities. According to the Mirror, the amount for the taxpayer, who pays most of the bill, could rise to 250 million pounds – five times more than that of Queen Elizabeth II (in constant pounds) – mainly due to ‘reinforced security: it is necessary to deal with terrorist threats but also environmentalists and republicans. More than half of Daily Express readers believe the king should pay out of pocket. The Daily Mail, however, reports that the crowning glory – with Eurovision next week in Liverpool – is expected to bring £1bn (€1.1bn) to the UK economy.
The Guardian went further by publishing a mini-series called “The Cost of the Crown”. David Pegg is one of seven journalists who took part in the investigation which began in October. “Everyone is talking about the coronation and we wanted to be part of that conversation, not just in a slavish and deferential way. The newspaper, left-wing and Republican, estimates the royal fortune at 1.8 billion pounds (2 billion euros). But it is impossible to know the cost of the monarchy for the taxpayer. “I worked on the Panama Papers and it’s very complicated, but in the end you get an answer. With the monarchy, there is none. The clearest example is jewelry. There is great confusion between what belongs to them and what belongs to the state. It is very frustrating. »
On the eve of his coronation, King Charles would be “relaxed”, according to the press. The Times reveals that 62% of Britons believe he will be “a good king” – a year ago only 39% thought so. But there is a concern for D-Day: the rain, or even the storm, could well spoil the party.
