King Charles III of Great Britain is set to be crowned in a lavish ceremony on May 6 at Westminster Abbey in London. The event will showcase the enormous wealth accumulated by the British monarchy over centuries. However, as the country battles stubbornly high inflation and years of wage stagnation, the coronation's cost has become controversial.
The coronation of King Charles III will be conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury. This will mark the beginning of a three-day celebration across London and the rest of the UK, culminating in a public holiday on May 8. While the coronation service is largely ceremonial, it holds significant historical and cultural value, as it is the first of its kind in 70 years. King Charles III officially ascended to the throne on September 8, 2022, following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
As the coronation ceremony is a state event, it will be paid for by the UK Government and Buckingham Palace, through the Sovereign Grant and Privy Purse, according to BBC. However, both of them haven't revealed the official cost. Estimates by British media range from £50 million to more than £100 million ($63 million to $125 million).
Many Brits are questioning the wisdom of spending such a large sum of money on a glitzy event, particularly as the country struggles with economic challenges. A poll carried out by YouGov says that 52 per cent of Londoners did not believe the Coronation should be paid for by taxpayers.
“I am a bit of a royalist and I do like the royal family. But I think they haven’t really read the room, as it were. A lot of it should have come from their own pocket rather than the taxpayer. And I think it should have been toned down a little bit,” said Laura Billington, a teacher at a school from Doncaster told CNN. The city is among the United Kingdom’s more economically deprived areas, but it’s not unique.
England's Cost Of Living Crisis
Currently, UK's gross domestic product (GDP) stands around 0.6 per cent. According to a CNN report real wages in Britain including bonuses, fell by 3 per cent in the three months to February, and inflation has been above 10 per cent for the last seven consecutive months, leaving millions of people on the brink of poverty.
Many public sector workers, including nurses, junior doctors, and civil servants, have been striking in recent months over pay disputes. Most public sector workers have been offered pay raises of 4 per cent or 5 per cent for the current financial year, which is significantly lower than the annual inflation rate. Food prices are rising at a particularly painful pace. The cost of bread was up 19.4 per cent year on year in March.
Kelly Widdowson, the manager at Helping Hand Community Centre in Edlington told CNN, “It’s worse than it’s ever been. The price of gas and electric has gone through the roof, the price of food has gone through the roof. Both I and my husband work full time and we are struggling. We can’t afford to live. I’ve got three kids in junior school. That’s three times £2.50 a day for school dinner”
Against this backdrop, some are questioning the need for such an extravagant coronation. While the event is undoubtedly steeped in tradition and history, many believe that the cost could be better spent on more pressing issues, such as healthcare, education, and social services.