In addition to Charles and Camilla, heir to the throne William with his wife Kate and their children George and Charlotte sat in the grandstand. The evening was moderated by the actor Hugh Bonneville, who is known, among other things, from the hit series “Downton Abbey”. The list of stars included Lionel Richie, Take That and Katy Perry, as well as Chinese pianist Lang Lang and Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli.
The cartoon characters Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog also made an appearance. A special coronation chorus was put together especially for the concert. The 300 performers reciting Emile Sande’s “Brighter Days” included a fire brigade choir, a deaf choir and an all-female South Asian choir.
For the first time there was a collaboration between five royal patrons: Royal Ballet, Royal Opera, Royal Shakespeare Company, Royal College of Music and Royal College of Art. They performed a mixture of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and Leonard Bernstein’s musical West Side Story. on. As rock musician Steve Windwood sang “Higher Love” with the Commonwealth Choir, made up of participants from various British ex-colonies, Charles’ niece Zara Tindall and husband Mike danced in their seats.
“Pa, we are all so proud of you”
As had been speculated in advance, a stage appearance by Prince William was also planned for the coronation concert. With “Pa, we are all so proud of you,” the 40-year-old heir to the throne paid tribute to his father. His grandmother Queen Elizabeth II, who died in September, called coronations “a declaration of our hopes for the future”. “And I know she’s up there, lovingly keeping an eye on us. And she would be a very proud mother.”
Charles swore to continue serving the country and nation, William said. “For for more than 50 years, in every corner of the UK, throughout the Commonwealth and around the world, he has devoted himself to the service of others, both present and future generations, and those whose memories will not be neglected may.”
Half of the tickets were raffled
Half of the approximately 20,000 concert tickets were raffled among the British population – people who have rendered special services to the community were also invited. The concert was also broadcast on big screens in London and other UK cities.
However, this year’s concert could not keep up with the star line-up of the anniversary concert in honor of Queen Elizabeth II, where last year Queen, Elton John, Alicia Keys and Rod Stewart performed in front of Buckingham Palace in London. According to reports, several requested stars – such as Ed Sheeran, Elton John and Kylie Minogue – have declined the invitation because of other commitments.
Big Coronation Dinner
For the British Sunday newspapers, the meticulously planned coronation spectacle from the previous day was – unsurprisingly – the dominant, if not the only, topic of the day. With full-page cover photos and numerous special pages, they honored the first coronation of a monarch in 70 years. “King of the world” wrote the Sunday Mail, “coronation splendor” the tabloid “The Sun on Sunday”.
The Coronation Big Lunch also saw tens of thousands of street parties and tea parties nationwide to celebrate Charles’ coronation on Sunday. “Whether this is your first ‘Big Lunch’ or it’s on the calendar every year, we send our best wishes to everyone involved,” Charles and Camilla wrote in a message on the royals’ Instagram.
Jill Biden bei „Coronation Lunch“ in Downing Street
Downing Street was also the scene of a “Coronation Lunch” on Sunday, and it was there that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his wife Akshata Murty received US First Lady Jill Biden, among others. Dozens of other people, including Ukrainian families and youth groups, were invited to the celebration outside Sunak’s Downing Street office.
At the “Big Lunch” people from all over the country meet for a joint banquet on the street. The street festivals have been celebrated annually since 2009 and are intended to promote contacts between neighbors and combat loneliness. It also collects for charity. This year they were all about the coronation, and a coronation quiche was often served.
The palace had published the recipe for the coronation. The official coronation dish with spinach, broad beans and tarragon is simple, contains no expensive ingredients and is vegetarian-friendly. In doing so, King Charles continued a tradition: there was already an official recipe for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953: “Coronation Chicken” is now considered a standard dish in British households.
Monday is also still all about the coronation in the United Kingdom: the day was declared a public holiday because of the coronation, with the British population being called on to spend their free time doing community work.
criticism of arrests
However, the actions of the authorities on the day of the coronation against opponents of the monarchy caused continued criticism. Several MPs expressed concern about the arrests. The head of the Republic organization, Graham Smith, was released from custody after 16 hours on Sunday night, but his mobile phone was confiscated. He criticized that there was no longer a right to peaceful protest in Great Britain.
The government had recently tightened the right to demonstrate, and now the police can make arrests if there is a suspicion that there could be serious disruption. In total, the London police had arrested 52 people – according to activists in many cases without reason. Chief of Operations Karen Findlay defended the approach as proportionate. On the other hand, Labor leader Jess Philips stressed that “our nation and our King are not so vulnerable that they cannot accept harmless protests with different views”.
