Weeks ago, I read a piece about how most European monarchies have made efforts to tone down their coronations over the past 20 years. While there is still some pomp, monarchies in Spain and The Netherlands have tried to downsize and simplify their coronations. Sweden will likely have a downsized coronation when Victoria becomes queen as well. But not the UK, not King Charles. He wants the razzle-dazzle. He wants all of his royal and political contemporaries to trot over to London to watch a billionaire’s hat ceremony. And he wants the British taxpayer to pick up the exorbitant costs. Originally, this whole mess was supposed to cost $100 million, which was already bad enough. But now it looks like it will cost upwards of £250 million, mostly due to security.
A massive security operation will push the cost of the Coronation of King Charles III into the realm of £250 million. A huge chunk – around £150 million – will be needed to deploy thousands of police officers and protection squads, insiders reveal. The rest goes on staging the ceremony and three days of celebrations.
The eye-watering cost to taxpayers is despite the King’s wishes for a slimmed-down, cost-effective monarchy. It cost Britain £1.57 million to stage the Queen’s Coronation in 1953 – around £47 million in today’s money. But ever-increasing security threats and a series of planned domestic protests have sent costs for Saturday’s event – codenamed Operation Golden Orb – soaring way above earlier estimates of £100 million.
Home Office sources revealed last night that a special air traffic control schedule has been drawn up for dignitaries flying in. Security will be tightened at landing spots, which include RAF Northolt in Middlesex and RAF Biggleswade, Beds, from Thursday. It comes amid fears that climate change protesters could target the private jet arrivals.
A major operation to stop activists sabotaging Coronation Day itself will see huge numbers of armed officers on the streets, snipers on rooftops, and police drones monitoring crowds for suspicious activity. Groups like Just Stop Oil and Republic could team up to cause disruption. Special Forces will also be on standby as part of the UK Counter Terrorism Defence Mechanism, with Blue Thunder 2 helicopters poised in the event of an attack.
A well-placed Home Office insider said: “Security alone will be up to £150 million, possibly more. It’s a crazy sum, but this is one of the biggest public events in recent history. Thousands are involved – many working overtime. Just getting dignitaries into the country and to their accommodation is a hell of an operation in itself. They will mostly be taken by police escort from the airfields.That’s one small cog in this gigantic security machine – there is so much more to the operation.”
[From The Daily Mirror]
Just think about how simple this could have been if only Charles understood that people are not actually eager to celebrate two septuagenarians with deeply problematic personal and familial histories. Charles could have downsized all of this. In fact, he already “downsized” the procession through the streets of London, but that wasn’t a cost-cutting measure, it was because he remains terrified of egg-tossers and Republic’s bullhorns. And don’t give me “inauguarations cost a lot of money too” – inaugurations are a celebration of the democratic process, a celebration of the peaceful transfer of power between democratically elected heads of state. All of this is for a hereditary monarch who is drunk on power.
Some people are not happy about the coronation. This chant… wow.
— Mukhtar (@I_amMukhtar) April 30, 2023
— ROPoem (@R0Poem) April 30, 2023
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, Cover Images.
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