The coronation of Charles III on May 6 gave rise to some eccentricities. Risk of shortage of toilet paper, new logo for the metro, a musical album dedicated to the royal family… Here is a selection.
Knit figurines have started appearing on the famous red mailboxes across the country. The Untangled Haydock group, which promotes well-being through crochet, covered boxes with royal figurines and crowns in wool.
Legoland Windsor Resort, the theme park not far from Windsor Royal Castle in west London, has reproduced the coronation in miniature, with figurines of the king and queen, an imitation of Buckingham Palace, a replica of the royal carriage, and even of the concert which will take place on Sunday.
“It took 32,000 coins in total,” said attraction manager Paula Leighton. Hamley’s, the toy store in central London, also made “its” King Charles out of Lego.
Madame Tussauds in London has unveiled its waxwork mannequin of Queen Consort Camilla, alongside Charles, Prince William and his wife Catherine, Prince Harry, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip.
These wax figures were removed in October 2022, when environmental protesters covered Charles in vegan chocolate cake and shaving cream.
Candy brand Celebrations has made a bust of King Charles III out of melted chocolate. It took nearly 2,900 small chocolate bars to make the work. “The resemblance is uncanny,” said Celebrations manager Emily Owen. The bust weighs more than 23 kilos.
Speaker of the House of Commons (the lower house of Parliament) Lindsay Hoyle prepares her pets for the coronation. Boris the parrot is thus in full training period. “We’re getting him ready to sing God Save the King,” the national anthem, Lindsay Hoyle said.
Heinz rebranded its ketchup and launched a limited run of “Kingchup” (“Roichup”) with crown and pennants on the label. Last year, for Elizabeth II’s platinum jubilee, when her seventieth year of reign was celebrated, HP Sauce released a salad dressing, “Salad Queen.”
Uber is offering customers a horse-drawn carriage ride through a park in south London from May 3-5, so royals fans can take a similar tour to Charles’s coronation. The ride is reserved on the application and the company will donate the profits to associations for the defense of animal welfare.
The capital’s metro operator has reimagined its famous logo by affixing a gold crown to the top of the round, red circles on some lines.
A document from the National Archives relating to preparations for the last coronation in 1953 shows organizers’ concerns about a shortage of toilet paper at Westminster Abbey.
In total, “84 chemical toilets were provided for women and 70 for men in addition to 23 urinals,” the document said. But it is also added: “It was discovered early on the day of the coronation that a large part of the toilet paper had disappeared and in the future it will be necessary to take special measures to prevent this.” »
An official coronation album will be released for the first time, featuring four hours of music for fans to relive the historic moment. Decca Records, the record company that releases this album, was already at the origin of those published for the weddings of William and Harry.
