Thousands of luncheons and street parties were held across the UK on Sunday after the historic coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla, ahead of a major concert scheduled for the evening at Windsor Castle.
Jill Biden, the wife of the US President, joined a lunch outside Downing Street hosted by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak for volunteers, Ukrainian refugees and youth groups. Nothing was missing, neither the garlands of British flags and coronation pennants nor the "King Charles III" mugs.
More than 67,000 “big lunches” and block parties had been counted for the coronation long weekend. The last two jubilees of Queen Elizabeth II had already given rise to such "grand lunches".
Several members of the royal family were expected there, Prince Edward and his wife Sophie in Cranleigh in Surrey (South), Princess Anne and her husband Tim Laurence in Swindon (West) and Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, daughters of Prince Andrew , in Windsor.
In a message on Instagram, the king and queen sent their "best wishes" to the attendees of these great lunches wishing them a "very pleasant moment".
A post shared by The Royal Family (@theroyalfamily)
But 72% of Britons, unmotivated by the coronation, had no intention of taking part in any celebration, according to a recent YouGov poll.
After several days of rehearsals, receptions, garden parties and solemn coronation at Westminster Abbey in front of a global television audience, the 74 and 75-year-old royal couple had still planned to attend the big concert organized in front of 20,000 spectators on Sunday. at Windsor Castle (West London). Some enthusiastic spectators arrived hours in advance, British flag on their shoulders.
The Prince and Princess of Wales William and Kate came there to greet the crowd in the early afternoon.
American singers Lionel Richie and Katy Perry, Chinese pianist Lang Lang, Italian opera singer Andrea Bocelli and a choir of more than 300 people from a wide variety of backgrounds will perform at the concert. But no British headliners.
Actor Tom Cruise is set to make a video appearance, as is Winnie the Pooh, possibly following in the footsteps of the Paddington Bear, star of a video where he had tea with Queen Elizabeth II at the opening of the concert of the Jubilee in June 2022.
On Monday, a public holiday granted especially for the coronation, the British were encouraged to take part in voluntary actions.
Saturday's religious coronation in London of Charles III made for a historic day, with all the pomp associated with grand events in the monarchy. Even the rain – systematic during the last five coronations, said the weather services – was there.
The picture of Charles being crowned made headlines across the UK as well as many international headlines.
Eight months after his accession to the throne on the death of his mother Elizabeth II, Charles III, wearing heavy ancestral ceremonial robes, was crowned at Westminster Abbey in front of 2,300 guests, according to a thousand-year-old Anglican rite, modernized at the margin. His wife Camilla was also blessed and crowned.
Accompanied by a spectacular military procession, the couple then returned in a golden coach to Buckingham Palace, from where they greeted the crowd from the famous balcony. It was the first coronation in 70 years, when Elizabeth II was crowned in 1953.
More than 14 million viewers watched live on the BBC as Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, the first dignitary of the Anglican religion, placed the heavy solid gold Crown of St Edward on Charles's head and set with precious stones.
31 million watched Princess Diana's funeral in 1997 on the BBC and ITV.
King Charles is less popular than his mother Elizabeth II, and anti-monarchists demonstrated in London on Saturday as the carriages passed, as well as in Scotland and Wales. Some 15% of Britons think the monarchy should be abolished.
Six officials of the anti-monarchy group Republic, including its leader Graham Smith, were arrested by police on Saturday morning, sparking heavy criticism. They were released on Saturday evening. "Make no mistake about it. The right to peaceful protest no longer exists in the UK,” Graham Smith tweeted.
In total, the police announced that they had arrested 52 people "for disturbing public order, disturbing the peace and conspiring to cause a public nuisance around the coronation".
