We wouldn’t miss it for the world! Australian couple make 10,000-mile journey from New South Wales to attend King Charles’ coronation and meet up with other royal superfans
- Do you know a royal superfan who has travelled far to attend the coronation? Get in touch: [email protected]
- For all the latest Royal news, pictures and video click here
A couple of royal superfans have made the 10,000-mile journey from Australia to attend King Charles’ coronation and meet up with other monarchists.
Husband and wife Jan and David Hugo, who own Australia’s biggest collection of royal memorabilia, have travelled to the UK for the historic occasion on May 6.
Mrs Hugo, 65, has collected more than 10,000 pieces stretching back to the days of Queen Victoria.
She said her hobby started ‘by accident’ in the 1980s, when she received a coin commemorating Charles and Diana’s engagement to celebrate her daughter’s birth.
The couple, from Hunter Valley in New South Wales, were so eager to attend the event this weekend they booked their flights to London an hour after the date of the coronation was announced.
Jan Hugo and her husband David started their Royal collection back in the 1980s
Jan and David visited the museum of fellow monarchist Anita Atkinson during their trip
King Charles’ coronation this weekend is expected to attract visitors from all around the world
Mrs Hugo met Charles when he on a tour of Australia and is planning to take home more items for her haul.
She said: ‘Forty two years later we’ve got well over 10,000 pieces – we stopped counting when it got to 10,000.
‘We got the plate, then the spoon, then the cup, and it just went from there.’
The couple live among their memorabilia, which even includes life-size mannequins of the King and Queen.
She added: ‘We actually have it all in our house – it’s like living in a museum with everything behind glass.
‘We opened it up for about seven years and then Covid hit so we had to close it down. The pandemic was pretty bad in Australia, and we haven’t opened since but we are thinking about doing it again.’
Jan Hugo pictured with her collection of royal memorabilia at her home in New South Wales, Australia
Royal superfan Anita Atkinson has been chosen as the face off Aldi’s new coronation range
Ms Atkinson’s museum in Crook, County Durham, holds more than 12,000 royal collectables
During their trip to the UK, the couple are set to meet other royal superfans, including Anita Atkinson, 66, whose museum in Crook, County Durham, holds more than 12,000 collectables.
The couple are in friendly competition with the fellow monarchist and relished in comparing their collections during a meet-up at Ms Atkinson’s museum last week.
Mrs Hugo added: ‘I told her about lots of my collection. She made us feel really welcome.’
Ms Atkinsona, a well-known Royal superfan, headed down to the Mall a week early on Saturday to try and get a prime spot to see the King.
Supermarket Aldi has also picked her to be the face of its coronation campaign.
Source: Read Full Article
