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End of an Era/HM King Charles III Coronation - Saturday 6th May 2023

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  • End of an Era/HM King Charles III Coronation - Saturday 6th May 2023

    We have now reached the Day of Destiny for our new King, so say many of the national newspapers. I noticed that there wasn't a thread about the Coronation on here, so with a brief mention on the HM Queen Elizabeth II obituary thread, - I did resist, but now, I thought I would do the honours: I will be watching the coverage on BBC One (and also getting radio coverage courtesy of BBC Radio 4 on 92.7 MHz FM in my neck of the woods; television in one corner of the room and radio in the other corner). I feel that as a citizen, a pro-Royalist (and a loyal subject) that one needs to be a witness to this historic event - I don't think that it will be the only time that I will witness a monarch's Coronation in my lifetime, but it will obviously be the first time. Weather-wise, I hope that it will be spelt REIGN and not RAIN. No, I didn't get an invitation, unless one counts my Television Licence in order to witness the historic event. Former Prime Ministers are invited, including one of them who will be celebrating his own birthday today: Tony Blair reaches his 70th birthday on the day of the Coronation, and so it will be a very special day to him, no doubt! I wouldn't have minded it to have been midweek such as being a Wednesday instead, and in a month like June or July just like Jubilees and some Royal Weddings have taken place on. The local elections on Thursday did put a bit of strain on plans so close to the Coronation event (it was like having an election two days before Christmas to be honest), but I did have my ID card in my wallet (one of those hologram ones and a former doctor at the practice I was act before I moved to my present address was my referee) - I do wish that the Coronation was at least a month after the elections as a result. On Friday, I spent most of the day out and about to try and get the final of my plans ready, and by mid afternoon I managed to complete them at last.

    It's a funny thing about television programmes and that C-word: first of all, it does look like the first few letters of the words "coronavirus"; and secondly, when i usually when I type in the word "Coronation" on the Sky Digital EPG in order to look for special programmes being scheduled, the only programmes which usually come up (provided that the Digibox isn't having problems giving that information more than two days ahead in which it often does) are (obviously) Coronation Street and Classic Coronation Street on ITV 1 and ITV 3 respectively - quite often the only television programme which has the word "Coronation" in its title and comes up on the Sky EPG, (and I even contacted ITV by email a couple of weeks ago to ironically ask whether they will be showing an episode on the day itself!) However, I had noticed that over 30 programmes which have the word "Coronation" came up including one or two on the obscure channels. But this Coronation is certainly no soap opera (not even by The Sun); this is a time when one defends the Licence Fee with regards to the coverage - the fact that it helps to support the coverage that we get to see as citizens, and the coverage that we need to see as citizens. Just like the Royal Family, we do pay through our taxes, but at the end of the day it is worth it - the Royal Family are part of our cultural identity as British citizen, and that is why I donated to the Prince's Trust last year. It does make me proud as a result; my noticeboard at home is full of Coronation stuff including the logo and other plans.

    Also, contrary to what negative origanisations such as Republic; the Green Party supporting anti-Royalists; and what some other people assume, the main answer is: no, I do not think that Saturday is just about a 74 year old man sitting down on a chair in central London and having an expensive heavy "hat" placed on his head, (in which Private Eye summed up on its latest front cover); this is something in which recent generations didn't have a chance to see back in 1953 or before - it is our chance to sample history before our very eyes. While good old "Auntie" Edna, (referred to in her affectionate sense as someone that one could turn to back then, rather than one's own mother's sister), was the probably only person in the street who probably had a television set back then (and community spirit afforded the whole street to gather in the front room to watch the historic coverage - something in which one couldn't imagine happening these days), almost every room at home, apart from the bathroom, is more likely to have a television set in there. The terraced inner-city street in which my late father lived on in 1953 had a street party, and to prove it, a picture of it was published in the Wednesday 3rd June 1953 issue of the local newspaper. We have been thinking about this day probably for decades, never mind years, and this was while the late Queen Elizabeth II was still during earlier decades of her reign. HM King Charles III has reigned for 240 days (Saturday being the 241st day of his reign), and this day will be historic - certainly not one to be missed. As he is 74 years of age, I don't think that we will get a Jubilee out of him, but I believe that he will reign for possibly 15 to 20 years.

    I don't usually purchase daily newspapers when I go out first thing in the morning as a result of getting most of my news from the television, the radio, or the internet, unless it is a special event happening such as the days between the death and the funeral of her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II last year, but it does put me in a Times and a Daily Mail mood, (yes, indeed), due to the former's historic and the latter's pro-Royal stance, avoiding red-top newspapers and left-wing ones for once. I want it to be perfect with things to be on schedule - we only have just one bite of the cherry; the television coverage starts at 7.30 am; the radio coverage starts at 10.00 am; and the Coronation service itself starts at 10.20 am. I will toast the King with a bottle of McGuigan's non-alcoholic wine (goes well with roast chicken, apparently) being chilled in the fridge - Coronation chicken sandwiches were not available from my Tesco online shop on Wednesday afternoon, and so I decided on some Tyrrell's Coronation chicken crisps instead. I was also surprised as the fact that some people will not be even seeing a frame of the event, quite often by choice: I read that someone refused to do so, blaming the "elitism at the top" as the main reason. I also listened to Five Live yesterday where some said that they would be working throughout the three day break and so wouldn't be seeing much of the event, even if they wanted to do so, but the Jonathan Dimbleby interview after midday was interesting. Local churches have things happening during the three days ahead, and it's great to know that they are taking an active part; however, as most churches don't have a satellite dish, cable box, or even a TV Licence, it's best to watch the coverage at home.

    Since Coronavirus, there has been very little that we have celebrated in life, or even bothered to do so - being alive and healthy is one of them, but apart from that, not much else. Christmas and birthdays and all that, but they happen every year - seeing the new King do his first Christmas message at 3.00 pm last year on Christmas Day took some getting used to, but we already knew that big changes had already taken place. It is healthy and normal to celebrate anything, no matter how big or small or personal the celebration happens to be - we need to celebrate, no matter what the celebration happens to be. Personally, celebration isn't much in my own vocabulary, and any excuse to do so is well invited - the fact that lots of people are in the same boat and celebrating provides a great advertisement and invitation to do the same. As for the Sunday evening concert, a great line up including Lionel Richie (number one in the charts on the day I was born courtesy of the Commodores); Take That, Katy Perry and others at Windsor Castle. And we have a Bank Holiday on Monday to recover from it as well - I hope that it will compensate for when I was unwell during last year's Platinum Jubilee celebrations, and this year, things will be different - talk about letting one's hair down! Kudos to those pro-Royalists who had camped out in central London for days, never mind hours to see the big event! My own Nottingham perspective will, no doubt, afford me just as much a prominent perspective of the proceedings!

    Best wishes to HM King Charles III on the day of his Coronation!!! God save the King!!!
    I've everything I need to keep me satisfied
    There's nothing you can do to make me change my mind
    I'm having so much fun
    My lucky number's one
    Ah! Oh! Ah! Oh!

  • #2
    It's the end of an era.

    Until last Thursday there was nobody under the age of 70 who had experienced life under another monarch. The Queen seemed like an almost permanent feature of Britain whilst government ministers have come and gone; fashions and culture changed; and technology advanced. The demise of the Queen and the ascendency of Charles as King comes across as a strange feeling.

    A total of 15 prime ministers have served under her reign from Winston Churchill to (for just a few days) Liz Truss.

    The Queen presided over Britain from entering and later exiting the EU. She was the only British monarch to celebrate 4 Jubilees.

    Comment


    • #3
      It was always my ambition to start the obituary thread on this forum for HM Queen Elizabeth II as soon as I heard the news that she had passed away, and I have achieved it. I started the late Duke of Edinburgh (the late Prince Philip) last year, and ever since then, I vouched that I would do so for the late Queen.

      I am not sure whether any of you saw the funeral on the television or elsewhere, but I did and it really felt as if I was witnessing history before my very eyes. What a wonderful tribute to someone who had been the embodiment of British (and Commonwealth) life for seven decades.

      Regarding the state funeral day, it feels like a lot more than a Bank Holiday - more like a Christmas Day.

      I watched it myself at home on BBC One (yes, I do have an incumbent TV licence), while I made recordings of the radio coverage from BBC Radio 4 (I would have done it from Five Live but they are not an FM station, and I believe that FM reception is better in my neck of the woods).

      I don't suppose any of you queued for 14 hours to see Her Majesty lying in state? Before you ask, no I didn't personally - I stayed at home and watched and done my tribute "in spirit" via BBC Parliament in the other room.

      God bless her late Majesty, and God Save the King!
      I've everything I need to keep me satisfied
      There's nothing you can do to make me change my mind
      I'm having so much fun
      My lucky number's one
      Ah! Oh! Ah! Oh!

      Comment


      • #4
        I watched almost all the coverage. It was very impressive how all the processions managed to stay co-ordinated, along with the camera crews.
        The Trickster On The Roof

        Comment


        • #5
          Also, I had BBC One on when Huw Edwards gave the news at 6.30 pm on Thursday 8th September - I feel that he has made history doing that. It would be nice if he was nominated for something as a result of being in the "right place at the right time" with regards to the news originally breaking.
          I've everything I need to keep me satisfied
          There's nothing you can do to make me change my mind
          I'm having so much fun
          My lucky number's one
          Ah! Oh! Ah! Oh!

          Comment


          • #6
            It feels so strange that we will have left the late Queen Elizabeth II behind in 2022, and that 2023 is the first year in most of our lives that she has not been with us.
            I've everything I need to keep me satisfied
            There's nothing you can do to make me change my mind
            I'm having so much fun
            My lucky number's one
            Ah! Oh! Ah! Oh!

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by George 1978 View Post
              Also, I had BBC One on when Huw Edwards gave the news at 6.30 pm on Thursday 8th September - I feel that he has made history doing that. It would be nice if he was nominated for something as a result of being in the "right place at the right time" with regards to the news originally breaking.
              Hopefully there with be a Bafta, the coverage was very good, though the BBC had been planning it for years.
              The Trickster On The Roof

              Comment


              • #8
                Nearly four months on it still feels a bit like a ship without a rudder. I watched it all from leaving Balmoral and the tractor salute, to the final broadcast from Windsor. All in all, showed Great Britain at it's finest. I don't think there's any other country that can pull off pageantry like Britain.
                Politics aside, I thought Penny Mordaunt did a superb job at the Proclamation. Her calm tone and clear controlled delivery was exceptional given the pressure of what she had to do.

                On a lighter note...
                The inkwell shuffle at the Proclamation.
                The bishop who dropped his order of service.
                The look given by Arch Bishop Welby when some of the younger members of the congregation seemed to decide to swap seats.
                Charles and Camilla unsure where to sit at Windsor.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Roll on Saturday 6th May and HM King Charles III's Coronation.
                  I've everything I need to keep me satisfied
                  There's nothing you can do to make me change my mind
                  I'm having so much fun
                  My lucky number's one
                  Ah! Oh! Ah! Oh!

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Flags and bunting all washed and ironed ready, fireworks ordered, food planned...

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      i myself was impressed how everything went off there wasnt much trouble altho in edinbugh a certain royal got booed for being associated with a certain person.

                      I just felt the coverage was too much but perhaps that cause im not ads big a royal family fan as others.

                      But we got a look at how royals are buried all the marching etc on the day of the funeral is smth most of us have never saw.



                      Originally posted by richard1978 View Post
                      i watched almost all the coverage. It was very impressive how all the processions managed to stay co-ordinated, along with the camera crews.


                      FOR THE HONOUR OF GRAYSKULL

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        I would defend the main coverage because as far as I am concerned, it has been (so far) a "once in a lifetime" event. I certainly don't think that it was "over the top" - it brought unity towards the public, and in many ways, brought them together.

                        It was going to happen, but we didn't know when.
                        I've everything I need to keep me satisfied
                        There's nothing you can do to make me change my mind
                        I'm having so much fun
                        My lucky number's one
                        Ah! Oh! Ah! Oh!

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by George 1978 View Post
                          I would defend the main coverage because as far as I am concerned, it has been (so far) a "once in a lifetime" event. I certainly don't think that it was "over the top" - it brought unity towards the public, and in many ways, brought them together.

                          It was going to happen, but we didn't know when.
                          Supposedly a lot of the funeral had been planned years beforehand, so it could be quickly brought into action when the event arose.

                          The Trickster On The Roof

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Yes, I believe that every couple of years, the powers that be had a "fire practice" as to preparing the funeral, going through the motions and all that.

                            I have now noticed that the "Operation London Bridge" situation has now been focused on King Charles III and what will happen when that happens. I have seen updated videos on YouTube about that.
                            I've everything I need to keep me satisfied
                            There's nothing you can do to make me change my mind
                            I'm having so much fun
                            My lucky number's one
                            Ah! Oh! Ah! Oh!

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              I got my first ban at one forum (U.S. based too) for joining in with some complaining about the amount of coverage, but it was only a temporary one, and I had made respectful comments before... I did get tired of a few things being repeated over and over by various 'hosts' but hardly the only news story or event that can be said of. Unlike some sports do it didn't preempt anything I watch and not every channel was hours of a casket lying in state with various honour guards and the same list of things repeated and gone over even in hushed tones. I thought of the coverage as something separate from Elizabeth II who did mean a lot to myself and brought people together in many ways, and who served very well for so long. There are places she visited I will always associate with her whenever I pass near the same spots.

                              I hope Charles III lives and reigns long too.
                              My virtual jigsaws: https://www.jigsawplanet.com/beccabear67/Original-photo-puzzles

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