This post appeared in the Morning Star. Following a seminar paper I gave at the Institute of Historical Research on May 15th this is one of a series that looks at the Coronation, its history,politics and impact on the present
The Coronation: a profit & loss balance sheet
Its been reported that the Coronation, which it might be remembered, has no formal purpose, cost £250million. King Charles is thought to have personal wealth of £1.8 billion, but did not contribute. Rather with the cost of living crisis in mind it was public money that was spent.
In return there was a ceremony of largely made up or reinvented traditions which at times looked more like a Monty Python sketch. Total TV viewing across all platforms were less than 20 million. The Queen’s funeral and jubilee in 2022 both got more viewers, as did her 1953 Coronation, when they were only 2.5 million TV sets.
Of course 20 million is still a substantial number although the UK population is around 67 million meaning the majority were for one reason or another otherwise engaged.
The crowds in London despite the traditional Coronation rain appeared substantial, although I haven’t seen a figure. Certainly the day passed off without incident except of course some bungling authoritarians in the police managed to arrest some anti-monarchy protesters for no particular reason. The police have spent the days since in a sorry, not sorry routine which might serve to remind the various politicians who have stated that the Met Police are not fit for purpose to do something about it.
Was the Coronation good for business? It will take a while to get reports on hospitality trading but even on the Bank Holiday Monday shops were reducing significant amounts of unsold Coronation items. The weathervane of such matters, the Wetherspoons pub chain reported that Saturday trading was quieter than usual.
The Coronation can be seen as a set of supposedly ancient rituals and traditions designed to underwrite the legitimacy of the current State- another Tory Culture War. The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby was central to this. He was behind the idea of King Charles being anointed with a special oil behind a screen specially constructed for the purpose.
Unfortunately for the Tories just a few days later Welby was to be found in the Lords arguing against the Government’s Immigration Bill broadly on the grounds that it was not based on Christian principles. This led a series of Tory Ministers to attack Welby and claim that it was not the job of an Archbishop to speak out on moral issues. They seem to have forgotten that the Tories are the Party of Church and King. Indeed the mother of the magistrate who sent the yeomanry in at Peterloo, Hulton, had a horse named just that.
A few days later in what can only be seen as a godspeed moment it was revealed that Welby had been fined for speeding. Given that the offence took place in the autumn an operation to undermine his moral probity just a few days after the Coronation appeared to be in hand.
Meanwhile the arrest of protesters issue has also become more problematic. One of those arrested was Alice Thompson who was handcuffed and held for thirteen hours because she happened to be in the vicinity of Just Stop Oil protesters. She was however not a protester but someone described as a ‘Royal superfan’. The claim by the Head of the Metropolitan Police Mark Rowley that policing and arrests on the day of the Coronation was intelligence led can be seen for the lie that it was.
In short since the market judges everything in society the Coronation was a rather underwhelming performance.
If the pomp and circumstance of a Coronation was meant to distract from a cost of living crisis, it failed
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