Bid to reflect an inclusive modern Britain countered by ‘terribly white’ Buckingham Palace balcony
For many, King Charles III achieved his ambition for a diverse and inclusive coronation, though not everyone agreed.
There were far more black and brown faces in Westminster Abbey than 70 years ago, as would be expected given societal change over Elizabeth II’s reign.
Continue reading...‘Pay as you feel’ celebration in Armley, one of city’s most deprived wards, is one of more than 67,000 across bank holiday weekend
Parishioners had put out enough chairs in the grounds of Christ Church in Armley, Leeds, to seat about 80 people for their Coronation Big Lunch – but it was starting to become clear they may have underestimated.
Helped by sunny weather on Sunday, numbers were nearly twice as high, and it was not long before pews were being brought outside to seat the diverse gathering, one of more than 67,000 Big Lunches being held across the bank holiday weekend as part of the official coronation celebrations.
Continue reading...While some paid tribute to the British monarch, the presence in London of certain guests proved less than welcome
In South Africa, as across the African Commonwealth countries, Saturday’s coronation of King Charles III prompted mixed reactions.
There was much interest in Pretty Yende, the South African soprano who sang at the beginning of the ceremony, and some high-profile public figures sent their best wishes to the monarch.
Continue reading...Graham Smith said Met officers should hang their heads in shame after 52 detained in central London
Police who arrested anti-monarchy protesters before King Charles III’s coronation have “destroyed whatever trust might have existed between peaceful protesters and the Metropolitan police,” the chief executive of the campaign group Republic has said.
After six members of the group were arrested at about 7.30am on Saturday – before their protest had begun – and had their placards seized, Graham Smith said officers “should hang their heads in shame” and that police had shown “no judgment, no common sense and no basic decency”.
Continue reading...Jean-Luc Mélenchon also criticises French TV coverage while National Rally MP hails ‘magnificent’ ceremony
Almost 9 million people watched King Charles’s coronation live on TV in France, where the pomp and ceremony sickened the radical left while impressing the far right.
As the French president, Emmanuel Macron, who is close to Charles, attended the service at Westminster Abbey, congratulating the monarchy who he said were “friends to France”, the French media’s massive focus on the event – with souvenir front pages and lengthy TV specials across different channels – caused high emotions across the polarised political landscape.
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‘It’s tough’: Taylor on whether LNP can hold Fadden after Stuart Robert retirement
Taylor is asked whether the LNP can hold Fadden at the upcoming byelection to fill the spot left by Stuart Robert after he suddenly announced his retirement and says “it’s tough”.
That’s the nature of modern politics.
But the point I would make is the real test right now is this inflation test.
The more the treasurer talks about restraint, the more we know he’s planning to spend. That is the double speak we are getting from Labor right now.
I think it is a test of whether inflation is being dealt with. The truth of the matter is we know there is no bigger conversation around the kitchen table right now than this inflation that’s hitting. It is a tax on everyone and everything. We want to see a budget that deals with that.
Continue reading...Football club says how spectators choose to react to God Save the King is a ‘personal choice’
The British national anthem has been met with resounding boos at Anfield, with Liverpool fans drowning out the music with heckles before their fixture against Brentford hours after King Charles’s coronation.
Liverpool supporters could also be heard chanting “Liverpool, Liverpool” in what has become somewhat of a tradition whenever the national anthem is played at the ground.
Continue reading...Coronation comes after anti-monarchy protesters arrested in central London. This blog is now closed
My colleague Alexandra Topping is out and about with the crowds in central London early this morning:
Crazy scenes around the streets of the coronation route London this morning, which have been heaving since the very early hours as people hope to secure a good spot.
Continue reading...The WikiLeaks founder writes that he has been captive in the prison for more than four years ‘on behalf of an embarrassed foreign sovereign’
Julian Assange has written a letter to King Charles ahead of his coronation inviting him to visit the UK prison where the WikiLeaks founder has been captive for more than four years “on behalf of an embarrassed foreign sovereign”.
The letter is the first document the Australian journalist and WikiLeaks founder has written and published since his time in Belmarsh prison in London and accounts the horrors of his life there.
Continue reading...Crowning of new king and queen will include UK’s biggest military spectacle in 70 years
Foreign royalty, heads of state and other dignitaries from around the globe have descended on London for the crowning of King Charles III and Queen Camilla, which will include a military spectacle unmatched in Britain in 70 years.
Seven thousand troops will be on parade with 19 military bands in a coronation procession stretching one mile from front to rear, the most at any state occasion since the 1953 coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.
Continue reading...Dignitaries arriving in London ahead of tomorrow’s ceremony as people already gather to line procession route
A children’s biography of King Charles III has topped the UK book chart before the coronation on 6 May.
Maria Isabel Sánchez Vegara’s King Charles is part of the Little People, Big Dreams series, which includes illustrated biographies of notable figures such as Stephen Hawking and Michelle Obama.
Continue reading...Rain forecast for UK over bank holiday weekend, including in London as Charles III is crowned
A coronation washout is forecast for many this weekend with rain and drizzle likely to provide a quintessentially British backdrop to the royal pomp and pageantry.
Saturday, the day of the formal ceremony, is forecast by the Met Office to be a cloudy and wet day for many, including in the capital around midday, just as King Charles III is being crowned.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Johnny Briceño attacks his UK counterpart’s refusal to apologise for atrocities of slavery
The prime minister of Belize, Johnny Briceño, has sharply criticised Rishi Sunak’s refusal to apologise for Britain’s role in the transatlantic slave trade, and said it was “quite likely” Belize would be the next member of the Commonwealth realm to become a republic.
Speaking to the Guardian in the country’s capital, Belmopan, Briceño argued the British government had a moral responsibility to apologise for the atrocities of slavery and added to the calls throughout the English-speaking Caribbean for financial reparations from the UK.
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Senators Jacqui Lambie and Tammy Tyrrell have agreed to back the government’s housing affordability legislation.
The housing minister, Julie Collins, has told ABC Radio the deal was struck after the government agreed to build 1,200 social housing homes in every state and territory:
We’ve agreed to make sure that every state and territory gets a fair share of housing from the housing future funding from other federal government programs.
What we want to do is make sure that every state and territory gets their fair share of funding.
Many of these deaths occurred in the home. There is opportunity for others present to avert death and reverse the effects of an opioid overdose if they administer a medicine called naloxone.
The Australian Government has funded the availability of naloxone for free, without a prescription, for anyone who may be at risk of witnessing or experiencing an overdose.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Aboriginal Olympian Nova Peris says ‘change begins with listening’ as campaigners from 12 countries ask for ‘process of reparatory justice to commence’
Australians have joined Indigenous leaders and politicians across the Commonwealth to demand King Charles III make a formal apology for the effects of British colonisation, make reparations by redistributing the wealth of the British crown, and return artefacts and human remains.
Days out from Charles’s coronation in London, campaigners for republic and reparations movements in 12 countries have written a letter asking the new monarch to start a process towards “a formal apology and for a process of reparatory justice to commence”.
Continue reading...Met says technology will not be used to target protesters or activists, but campaigners say use is ‘extremely worrying’
The Metropolitan police has been accused of using the coronation to stage the biggest live facial recognition operation in British history.
The force said on Wednesday it intended to use the controversial technology, which scans faces and matches them against a list of people police want for alleged crimes and could identify convicted terrorists mingling in the crowds.
Continue reading...Guardian Australia encounters a mix of apathy, indignation and enthusiasm on the streets of Melbourne and Sydney
King Charles III is just days away from his coronation but you wouldn’t know it from the mood on Australia’s streets.
Many people Guardian Australia spoke to in the lead-up to Saturday’s coronation didn’t know it was coming up – and certainly had no intention of pledging allegiance to the king from their couch, as the public will be invited to do.
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Continue reading...PM says he is pleased to contribute to Friends of the Western Ground Parrot as the king ‘has long championed conservation’
Australia is gifting King Charles III a donation to Friends of the Western Ground Parrot to mark his coronation.
The government has pledged $10,000 to help conserve the critically endangered “shy and rarely seen” species in honour of the monarch, on behalf of the people of Australia.
Continue reading...Mark Harper and Labour MP back ‘homage of the people’, but republicans say it ‘holds people in contempt’
A cabinet minister has said he “hopes people do” swear the proposed oath to the king on the day of his coronation, as republicans described it as “an offensive and tone-deaf gesture that holds the people in contempt”.
The transport secretary, Mark Harper, said he would be swearing the oath, to be known as a “homage of the people” and pointed out that MPs already “pledge allegiance to his majesty” on taking their seats.
Continue reading...British subjects asked to form a ‘chorus of a million voices’ and make oath of loyalty while watching service
Members of the public watching the coronation on television, online and in parks and pubs will be invited to swear aloud their allegiance to the monarch in a “chorus of millions of voices” to be known as the Homage of the People.
People around the UK and abroad will be invited to say the words “I swear that I will pay true allegiance to your majesty, and to your heirs and successors according to law. So help me God”, in a declaration that replaces the traditional homage of peers.
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