‘Last-minute dash for the Chazzle Dazzle!’: Councils are inundated with 11th hour requests for street parties, as bunting, quiche and Union Jacks sell out as coronation fever sweeps UK
- Ten million Brits have been banned from flying bunting ahead of the Coronation
- Council rules have been enforced amidst concerns for personal safety
- It comes as patriotic Brits across the country are preparing for the big day
As Coronation fever weeps the UK there was a last-minute dash for streets parties, decorations and bunting today.
From Charles-shaped pizzas to postboxes emblazoned with Union Jacks and a red telephone box transformed into a huge chariot, Brits across the country are going above and beyond to display their patriotism with just 24 hours to go until Charles is crowned.
But it emerged today councils have seen a deluge of request for eleventh hour street parties, with officials grappling with 600 more road closure requests for street parties during the last week alone, according to The Times.
The number of community events set to take place this weekend has reportedly soared to 4,000 as a result.
Patriotic Brits have been banned from flying bunting in the lead up to King Charles’ Coronation
And ten million Brits have been banned from flying bunting in the lead up to King Charles’ historic Coronation.
Killjoy councils have warned one in every five people that it is ‘unlawful’ to fly bunting amidst the last-minute scramble to organise street parties for His Majesty’s big day.
Strict rules are enforced in numerous councils, following concerns that people could hurt themselves while erecting flags and that the bunting could distract drivers.
Outright bunting bans along roadsides without permission are taking place in Surrey, Dorset, Hampshire, Somerset, Bradford, Calderdale, West Yorks, and Barnet, London.
The City of Bradford Council said: ‘Placing bunting over, along or in the highway is unlawful without first having obtained the appropriate consent from the council.’
Deadlines for bunting applications closed in February for many councils across the nation.
Cornwall, Wakefield, West Yorks, and Knowsley in Merseyside have also enforced bans against bunting on streetlights and road sign poles.
Wakefield said: ‘No bunting should be put up on street lighting columns and signs,’ while Dorset added: ‘Applying to erect bunting, banners and decorative flags over the road must be submitted at least three months before it is due to be put up.’
Meanwhile, hanging bunting across roads and in cul-de-sacs is ruled out in Durham, Shropshire, Devon, and Southampton.
North Licolnshire also added that bunting should not be hung across the highway in any circumstances.
The Local Government Association told the Telegraph: ‘Displays of bunting and flags are not banned, but should not be placed above roads or over signs or pylons because of risks related to them falling and distracting road traffic. Any displays should be kept at a low level and be well fastened.’
People all over the nation are still continuing to find innovative ways to celebrate before King Charles and Camilla are crowned. Pictured: A King Charles sausage sandwich
Villaggio Pizza showed their patriotism by creating the face of King Charles in a pizza
Despite news of bans, people are still continuing to find innovative ways to celebrate as Coronation fever sweeps across the nation.
One royal enthusiast has adorned every inch of his home with giant Union Jack flags, decorations and bunting to celebrate the Coronation.
Paul Bibby, 57, is well-known for his over-the-top decorations and has strung up around 100 Union Jack flags ahead of Saturday.
‘People think I’m slightly mad – but it’s just what I like to do,’ he said.
‘The reason I’m going big for the Coronation this year is because this will probably be the only Coronation I see in my lifetime.’
Paul lives with partner Linda Cummings, 60 and son Aaron Bibby, 35 who both love his displays.
Taking more than four hours to put together over several days, his work is now complete – running out of space for any more flags.
Paul, a full-time carer, from Chelmsford, Essex, said: ‘I’ll be watching the Coronation on TV – I hope the weather will be good too.
Paul Bibby, 57, is well-known for his over-the-top decorations and has strung up around 100 Union Jack flags ahead of Saturday
‘People think I’m slightly mad – but it’s just what I like to do,’ Paul said in the lead up to the coronation
TOP TEN CORONATION-RELATED BUYS ON AMAZON, BY PERCENTAGE SALES GROWTH SINCE 2022
1. Union Jack balloons +1,381
2. Victoria Sponges and Trifle +929
3. King Charles III Coronation teapot +368
4. Union Jack paper plates and cups +170
5. Royal pet attire including crowns, bow ties and bandanas +163
6. Folding camping chairs and tables +100
7. Official Coronation chinaware +100
8. Union Jack bunting +100
9. Union Jack tablecloths, tea towels and cake stands +29
10. Cut-out masks and life-size cardboard cut-outs of King Charles III and Queen Camilla +11
‘I’m quite a big fan of the Royal family – I celebrated the Queen, bless her.
‘I don’t know what sort of King Charles will be, but hopefully he’ll take after his mum.’
Meanwhile, a mother who taught herself to bake has created a hilarious spitting image-style cake of King Charles to celebrate the Coronation.
Angela Margett, 52, spent two days building her royal masterpiece on top of a Victoria sponge base.
The self-taught baker has been making cakes for friends and family over the past 33 years using YouTube tutorials as help.
She was commissioned by a friend to create the King Charles cake as a way of marking the Coronation for a deaf community party.
‘We have a friend whose parents are both deaf,’ Angela, from Chellaston, Derby, said.
‘Obviously the Coronation is around the corner they wanted a Charles cake for a deaf community get-together.
‘The deaf community sent me an image of a cake they wanted. The cake they sent me wasn’t brilliant. They emphasised the fact they wanted it more of a cartoon style.’
The cake took around two hours in total, with Angela looking to put emphasis on Charles’ ‘very prominent features’.
She continued: ‘I googled the Spitting Image puppet of Charles and based it off that. Charles has very prominent features luckily.
‘It’s not the most complicated, but one of the most unusual.’
Angela Margett, 52, spent two days building her King Charles masterpiece on top of a Victoria sponge base
Angela was commissioned by a friend to create the King Charles cake as a way of marking the Coronation for a deaf community party
Jan Hugo, 64, is a record-breaking owner of one of the largest collections of royal memorabilia in the world, with more than 10,000 items
On the very morning that the date of the coronation was announced Jan was ‘on the phone booking the flights and the accommodation’
During her trip to England, Jan plans to gather a suitcase full of more royal memorabilia to take back to Australia
Another patriot also flew all the way from Australia to join the crowds in London during the King’s coronation.
Jan Hugo, 64, is a record-breaking owner of one of the largest collections of royal memorabilia in the world, with more than 10,000 items.
On the very morning that the date of the coronation was announced Jan was ‘on the phone booking the flights and the accommodation’.
‘We’ll be too old when William becomes king so it was now or never,’ Jan said.
Reflecting on the king’s reign so far, she added: ‘He certainly had someone who knew what they were doing, and he’s followed in her footsteps so I can’t see why he won’t be a good king.
‘With all the issues that people have had with Camilla, I think it might be really nice to show that she’s now our queen and we should have a little bit more respect for her.’
During her trip to England, Jan plans to gather a suitcase full of more royal memorabilia to take back to Australia.
Villagers of Bradford Abbas, Dorset have also come together to transform their traditional red telephone box into a huge chariot for the Coronation.
The telephone box in Bradford Abbas, Dorset was a library before it had been transformed
Villagers of Bradford Abbas, Dorset have also come together to transform their traditional red telephone box into a huge chariot for the Coronation
A team of eight people put it together, kitting it out with wheels and painting it gold
A team of eight people put it together, kitting it out with wheels and painting it gold.
The faces of Charles and Camilla can be seen smiling out of its windows as large pictures were stuck on the carriage.
Jenny Thomas, a retired headteacher who helped organise the telephone box carriage, hopes that the carriage will be a ‘focal point’ for the village to celebrate during the ceremony.
She said: ‘We were in the pub just after Christmas and it suddenly struck me in a moment of inspiration that we should do something to celebrate the coronation.
‘Everyone started to chip in with different ideas and in the last few weeks we have been busy making it happen.
‘We are all excited for the coronation now, we want to make it a bit more exciting for the children.’
ST EDWARD’S CROWN IN THE EYE OF A NEEDLE
BY NICK PISA
An artist has paid tribute to the King Charles by making a minute replica of St Edward’s Crown… and placing it in the eye of a needle.
Dr Willard Wigan, 65, who was awarded an MBE by the then Prince of Wales in 2007 for services to art completed the unique piece after 600 painstaking hours.
The work is an incredible detailed replica of St Edward’s Crown made in 1661 for the coronation of Charles II and which will be used in Saturday’s solemn ceremony.
Mr Wigan told MailOnline that making the work was the ‘equivalent of performing heart surgery on an ant’ as it required a steady hand and the use of tiny precision instruments.
To paint the grain of sand he used one of his eyelashes and the edging at the bottom of the sculpture representing the fur of the crown is a tiny fibre from his shirt.
Dr Willard Wigan, 65, who was awarded an MBE by the then Prince of Wales in 2007 for services to art completed the unique piece after 600 painstaking hours.
The tiny sculpture which has fragments of gold and diamond worked into it is only visible through a microscope and is mounted in the eye of a 24 carat gold needle.
It is not much bugger than a full stop in a newspaper and Mr Wigan even had to hold his breathe and slow his heart rate down to complete the sculpture as the slightest movement could have been disastrous.
He used specially adapted hypodermic needles and acupuncture needles to sculpt the sand and flakes of diamond and gold into the right shape.
Mr Wigan told MailOnline: ‘I had to work through the night and into the early hours of the morning when there are less vibrations and air disturbances.
‘It really is quite a challenge and I was working over six weeks before I finished it and at times I didn’t even eat in case of any false moves.
‘The grain of sand has slivers of diamonds and gold in it and I painted it using one of my eyelashes and that shows you the level of microscopic detail.’
Mr Wigan made a similar sculpture for the late Queen Elizabeth and presented it to her for the Diamond Jubilee in 2012 and she was delighted with it.
Mr Wigan said: ‘I later received a message from Her Majesty thanking me for the work and she said she had never been given something so small that meant so much to her and that was a real honour.
‘That’s what inspired me to make something for King Charles coronation and I hope he gets a chance to see this but I won’t be sending it to him.
‘This one is for the people of Britain to look at and when they see it through a microscope I want to hear them draw their breath and be amazed as I hope Her Majesty was.’
Mr Wigan, who is from Birmingham, has been an artist for more than 40 years, and has made dozens of tiny sculptures that can only be seen through a microscope.
He was diagnosed with autism and dyslexia while he was at school and told he would never achieve anything in life by a teacher.
Mr Wigan, who has also made microscopic sculptures of Robin Hood, Albert Einstein and Jesus and the Twelve apostles at the Last Supper, added:’I was underestimated and looked down upon when I was younger so this is a form of defence system for me which says just because I’m different doesn’t mean I can’t offer anything.’
Mr Wigan’s work is currently on display at a free exhibition in Nottingham’s Wollaton Hall in a show called ‘Miniature Masterpieces’.
Mr Wigan has achieved two world records for the smallest handmade sculptures.
His first record, back in 2013, was for a minuscule 24-carat gold motorbike.
He then went on to break his own record in 2017 by sculpting a human embryo from a carpet fibre.
According to Guinness World Records, the sculpture measured 0.05388 mm (53.88 microns) wide and was placed inside a hollowed-out strand of Wigan’s own beard hair.
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