King Charles facing huge problem ahead of coronation
With just three days to go until the big event, a massive headache is brewing for King Charles – and it could spell absolute disaster.
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In the heart of London, a once-in-a-generation party is being set up.
Bunting is strewn across every public square. British flags and giant coronation banners adorn the city’s most iconic streets – they’re splashed right down the centre of Oxford Street and throughout Piccadilly Circus.
Almost every shopfront is crammed with coronation-themed paraphernalia, every pub is offering themed menus, King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla cut-outs are popping up with regularity in the most surprising of places.
This is a celebration 74 years in the making, and after only six months on the job, and still basking in the remnants of public sympathy following his mother’s death, Charles is currently at what could arguably be his peak of popularity.
At this exact moment in time, the new monarch and his team of hardworking royals – with Prince William and Kate Middleton doing a lot of the positive PR heavy lifting – has captured plenty of attention.
But capturing it and keeping it are two very different things – and unfortunately for Charles, against the backdrop of one of the biggest spectacles this country has ever seen, he is somehow still losing a must-win war.
Being on the ground in London last year in the days immediately after the Queen died, I was struck by the connection felt by Britons of all ages to the late monarch.
It was a sentiment fuelled by heavy emotion and transferred onto Charles as they mourned with him, the closest living link to the popular and widely respected Queen.
Plenty of them described their own surprise at the depth of their reaction to her passing, admitting it felt like the death of a beloved grandparent, a constant and reassuring presence.
Six months later, and with life rolling on, that emotion appears to have ebbed away.
Now, with the realities of Charles as King and in a new era of the monarchy, the younger generations appear to be, at best, apathetic.
Never before has there been more reason to get swept up in royal fever. But what’s instead been laid bare by millennial and Gen Z Britons is a widening disconnect from the royal family, with many describing themselves as simply “indifferent”.
If that’s the mood right now, with just days to go until the big event, then Charles’ future is under a heavy cloud.
“I’m just kind of neutral about it, to be honest,” Londoner Richard, 31, told news.com.au.
“I think generally (my friends and I), we would sort of not recognise that monarchy has a place in democracy in the 21st century.”
His tepid attitude toward the King comes even despite the fact he’s actually met him. The big problem? He’s a “very pleasant character – but clearly, no (Queen Elizabeth). I think she held herself with a lot of dignity, and didn’t necessarily kind of muddy herself with too many scandals over the years.
“It didn’t mean I thought that it was right that she was on the throne, but I kind of had respect for the way she did her bit.”
28-year-old Rosie from London won’t even be watching the ceremony unfold on TV, despite Buckingham Palace’s attempts to make it more captivating viewing with a shorter, two-hour run time.
“I’ve really not been paying attention (to the coronation),” she said.
“I’ll get my friends over for a barbecue, but it won’t be focused on the coronation, it’s just nice to have a party.”
Laura, 30, added: “I’m just happy for a day off, to be honest”.
A complete lack of interest in the much-hyped event was also shared by 21-year-old Niamh from England’s midlands.
“I don’t even have an opinion of Charles, he just doesn’t affect us,” she admitted.
“(The royal family) is just getting less and less relevant – it doesn’t faze me.”
The monarchy relies on public support for its very existence, and in the heart of London, with celebratory reminders jammed into every spare space, this is where it should be thriving.
For the masses of excited tourists and a large chunk of older Brits, it is. The excitement is palpable and they’ll be front and centre as the spectacle unfolds.
But for Stuart, 34, and his friends, the royals’ attempts to remain relevant and folded within the fabric of their lives have fallen flat.
Now, for them, it’s just like watching a “soap opera”.
“I’m indifferent. From an outsider’s point of view, I find the royals interesting, just as a bit of a soap opera,” he said.
“But I really don’t care about (the coronation), I won’t be watching and I won’t be partaking in anything.”
Maybe it’s the mistakes of Charles’ past and their rehashing in the wildly popular Netflix series The Crown acting as a giant roadblock to his youth connection.
Perhaps it’s the persistent volley of damaging shots fired over the Atlantic by one of the formerly most-popular royals, Prince Harry.
Maybe, despite years of opportunities to gradually curry favour with the people upon whom the monarchy’s literal survival rests, Charles has missed the mark.
Or perhaps the institution itself, now more than one thousand years old, is approaching a point in time in which the younger generation no longer feels it sits comfortably within a modern democracy.
Most likely, it’s a bruising cocktail of all four.
Either way, the road forward looks shaky.
The Prince and Princess of Wales may easily be the most popular royals on the ballot, but without Charles somehow reinvigorating the royal brand to younger Brits in the coming years, the days of King William and Queen Kate may never even come to pass – let alone King George.
Originally published as King Charles facing huge problem ahead of coronation
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