A recent investigation by the Guardian puts King Charles’s personal fortune at an estimated £1.8 billion, though the full picture of the monarchy’s finances remains largely opaque.īob Morris, an honorary senior research associate at the Constitution Unit at University College London, says that the royal family is financed by two primary sources. Some have even questioned why the royal family won’t just foot the bill itself. More than half of them believe that the coronation shouldn’t be funded by the government, according to a recent survey by YouGov, compared to just 32% who said it should be. “I don’t think, in retrospect, people cared what it cost simply because it was a vast success and a huge spectacle,” says Richard Fitzwilliams, a longtime royal expert.īut this history is unlikely to be of much comfort for many Britons. By the time Queen Elizabeth II was crowned in 1953, post-war rationing was still in place. ![]() The 1937 coronation of King Charles’s grandfather, King George VI, took place amid an economic recession just two years before the start of World War II. ![]() After all, past coronations haven’t always occurred at convenient times. Some British government ministers have bristled at the notion of scaling back the coronation, with the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Oliver Dowden noting that “ people would not want dour scrimping and scraping” on what will be a historic moment for the nation. Read More: How King Charles III’s Coronation Will Compare to the Ceremony for His Mother and Grandfather Further strikes by traffic wardens and Heathrow Airport workers stand to cast a shadow on the coronation celebrations. Hundreds of thousands of British workers, among them doctors, teachers, and train drivers, have walked out of work in demand of better pay in recent months. Still, the opulence of such a spectacle stands to run in stark contrast with the bleak backdrop that is Britain’s economic crisis, in which decades-high inflation has led to crippling labor strikes. It’s a decision that has been explained in part by King Charles’s sensitivity to the cost-of-living crisis afflicting the country, as well as his ambition to have a more modern, slimmed down monarchy (an aim that was partially achieved with the departures of Prince Harry, Meghan the Duchess of Sussex, and Prince Andrew from the coterie of working royals, of which there are now 11). Unlike the last coronation, which was held in 1953 for the late Queen Elizabeth II, this one-codenamed Operation Golden Orb-will be a more scaled-back affair, with a shorter duration and fewer attendees. It’ll be a party fit for a king, with a price tag to match: The long weekend is expected to cost British taxpayers at least £100 million ($125 million). ![]() The country is pulling out all the stops for the crowning of its sovereign- a three-day jamboree that will feature nationwide street parties, a Windsor concert, and a symbolic ceremony at Westminster Abbey followed by a grand public procession. Britain is still reeling from a cost-of-living crisis, though you wouldn’t necessarily know it from its plans for King Charles III’s upcoming May 6 coronation.
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