Gold carriages and food banks
The King’s Coronation cost taxpayers millions in the middle of a cost of living crisis, and may have caused irreversible damage to the royal public perception in the process.
The current cost of living crisis has left the general public on their knees, with families being unable to afford basic necessities, such as food, rent and bills.
Food charity organisation, Trussell Trust, has reported a record number of families have been turning to food banks over the past 12 months, with emergency food parcels being handed out every 13 seconds.
One volunteer stated on the Trust’s website: “We’re seeing a level of fear in people that we haven’t seen before. In that, literally, they don’t know what they’re going to do to try and pay the bills and feed their families.”
Meanwhile, in the midst of financial unrest affecting 92% of UK households, approximately 20.4 million turned on their TV to watch the very moment Charles III and his wife Camilla were crowned King and Queen.
Despite, the new King’s reported desire for a ‘stripped back’ ceremony, the world watched as the monarch paraded through London in an air-conditioned golden carriage, to then be smothered in royal regalia, including crown, spectre and orb. For many all the pomp and pageantry seemed nothing more than a clear showcase of this country’s class divide.
“A slap in the face to everyone across the UK who is struggling
to live right now”
A survey I conducted found that 90% of voters, aged 18 to 25, didn’t watch the coronation. However, it seems a lack of viewership from Britain’s younger generations, doesn’t correlate with a lack of interest, rather a form of silent protest.
One voter described the coronation of the King as a “glorified tourist attraction, using wasted money that could be put to good use elsewhere,” with another calling the ceremony “a barbaric showcase of wealth.”
It seems like most of the disdain for the coronation stems from the cost of the ceremony totalling up to approximately £100 million, with the majority of the budget coming out of taxpayers pockets.
This coming off the back off the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee, celebrating her 70 year reign, followed by her State Funeral seven months later, both of which were funded by taxpayers money. It doesn’t come as a surprise that 100% of voters surveyed agreed that the coronation should not have been publicly funded.
With this in mind, it seems the future of the British royal family is looking progressively fragile.
The presence of anti-monarchy protesters was heard loud and clear on the streets of London, crowds gathered, banners in hand, chanting ‘not my king’.
It begs the question, what will the public consensus on the Royal Family be by the time William, Prince of Wales, is crowned King?
Featured image by Mark Latter via Pexels.