Charles’s pompous coronation in times of social adversity irritates even monarchists

The United Kingdom is under the spell of several major events. Saturday Charles III. crowned king in Westminster Abbey. The Eurovision Song Contest takes place in Liverpool next week. The British fell in place of last year’s winner Ukraine, where the mega event cannot take place for obvious reasons.

Local elections in large parts of England (one of the exceptions being the capital London) will start on Thursday. They are a mood test for Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. He had taken over six months ago from Liz Truss, who had thrown the country into chaos with her economic policies.

With the short-term inglorious departure of the head of government, the Conservatives were some 30 percent behind the opposition Labor party in the polls. The pragmatist Sunak managed to reverse a certain trend. In the BBC’s cross-sectional poll, the gap has been halved. Labor is at 44 percent, the Tories at 29 percent.

Inflation above 10 percent

With a view to the next parliamentary elections, which will probably take place at the end of 2024, the difference is still considerable. Because Sunak was only partially able to get a grip on the severe crisis in the cost of living, which forces even people with decent incomes to reach for the ceiling.

Inflation was recently more than 10 percent, which is higher than in most countries on the European continent. It was even greater for food prices, also because imports were made more difficult by Brexit. High energy prices are also causing problems for the British, although the government has set a maximum for heating costs.

Needed more than ever

The result was the worst wave of strikes in decades, affecting many areas. And an ever-increasing social need. For example, the 1,300 Table or food banks of the Trussell Trust, one of the UK’s leading charities, have distributed more than a million emergency food packages to children in a year.

The need was even greater than in the first year of the pandemic, “which we all thought would be a one-off record,” says Emma Revie of the BBC’s Trussell Trust. More than 750,000 people in need had never visited a food bank. More and more people with a job are dependent on aid.

Millions of Britons are at risk of falling out of the middle class into poverty. What that means in concrete terms, shows a report by broadcaster CNN from Doncaster, a city with about 300,000 inhabitants in the county of South Yorkshire. It is one of those regions of Northern England that has never really recovered from the decline of industry and mining.

“If you’re not a millionaire, you feel the pressure,” says Liz Coopey, who volunteers at a food bank affiliated with the Church of St. John the Evangelist. More and more people are queuing for the groceries who have full-time jobs. “They need all their wages to pay bills and have no money for food,” Andy Unsworth, a church pastor who runs the food bank, told CNN.

Oldest monarch ever

It is precisely in this environment that Charles III. put the crown on their heads on Saturday in a pompous ceremony. It was slimmed down compared to his mother Elizabeth II’s accession to the throne 70 years ago. Even then, the kingdom was struggling. It recovered only slowly from the aftermath of World War II.

At the time, however, the coronation was for many a welcome change from the gloom of everyday life. And the young, fresh queen was a beacon of hope. Charles, on the other hand, is 74 years old than anyone before him when he ascended the throne. It does not represent a new beginning, but seems to more and more people to be a relic that has fallen out of time.

Charles pays no inheritance tax

Last but not least, the cost of the coronation at the expense of the cramped state coffers gives rise to discussion. The British government has refused to put a figure on it, but according to CNN, the British media put it at between £50 million and more than £100 million. This angers many in Doncaster and elsewhere, as Charles is not a ‘poor’ monarch.

Although he “voluntarily” pays income tax, he pays no inheritance tax on his mother’s private wealth of around £500 million – which includes an art collection and the castles of Balmoral and Sandringham. Tens of millions of pounds of revenue will be lost to the UK Treasury.

“Lost contact with reality”

Added to this are rich incomes for Charles III. of land and other investments. According to CNN from the Duchy of Lancaster alone, he raised a handsome sum of £24 million in the past budget year. Given such amounts, even monarchists are annoyed that the king does not pay for his coronation out of his own pocket.

“I love the royal family, but they’ve lost touch with reality,” says Laura Billington, a teacher in Doncaster who also “feels the pressure” despite working full-time. Liz Coopey of the Food Bank is also not opposed to the monarchy, but the coronation millions “do not look good” if the country is “downright fucked”.

Starmer hopes for success

Still, many members of the royal family will be cheering on Saturday. But the Conservatives could feel the popular anger at local elections. Her only hope is that it can hardly get any worse than it was four years ago. At that time, they lost about 1,300 of the more than 8,000 available seats in the municipal councils.

Unhappy Prime Minister Theresa May and her problems getting the EU exit through parliament were responsible. However, against the usual trend, Labor also lost seats in 2019 with the controversial far-left party leader Jeremy Corbyn. The beneficiaries were the Liberal Democrats and non-party candidates.

According to Sky News, the left-wing opposition now has a real chance of retaking its former strongholds in northern England, which “defected” to the Tories in the general election at the end of 2019. It would be an important victory for Labor leader Keir Starmer. Because many still doubt whether he can lead the party to national election victory.