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.
Continue reading...Matildas captain will join delegation including Anthony Albanese, Nick Cave and Adam Hills at London ceremony next week
Footballer Sam Kerr will lead a contingent of prominent Australians at King Charles’s coronation next week after being named as the official flag bearer for the ceremony in London.
The Matildas captain will lead a delegation that includes the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, the governor general, state governors and a number of other representatives at the event at Westminster Abbey.
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Continue reading...On eve of king’s coronation, survey shows only three in 10 Britons think monarchy is ‘very important’
Only three in 10 Britons think the monarchy is “very important”, the lowest proportion on record, a poll shows as the king’s coronation approaches.
A survey by the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) shows public support for the monarchy has fallen to a historic low. A total of 45% of respondents said either it should be abolished, was not at all important or not very important.
Continue reading...Recipe follows coronation chicken and platinum pudding as suggested centrepiece for parties and events
From coronation chicken to platinum pudding, royal occasions demand a signature dish and King Charles III’s coronation is no exception.
The “coronation quiche” has been personally chosen by the king and Camilla, the Queen Consort, in the hope it will be a centrepiece to many a coronation “Big Lunch” at street parties and community events on 6 May.
Continue reading...Health and Safety Executive also issued several notices related to worker safety and explosive substances at JV Energen
A green energy company set up by King Charles was investigated for numerous health and safety breaches after the unauthorised leak of more than 1,000 tonnes of global-heating gases.
Methane, CO2 and traces of the toxic gas hydrogen sulphide were released after a gas-holder at the plant split open in 2020. The incident, which lasted for 38 days, was described as “significant” by the Environment Agency.
Continue reading...Guests will include more than 450 British Empire Medal recipients, many of whom helped in Covid lockdowns
More than 850 community and charity representatives have been invited to the coronation of King Charles III, mingling with the royals, heads of state, politicians, peers and diplomats at Westminster Abbey.
Buckingham Palace has announced more than 450 recipients of the British Empire Medal (BEM) will attend in recognition of the contributions made by volunteers and community champions across the country.
Continue reading...Read a summary of our findings about the personal enrichment of the royal family and origins of some of their wealth
Continue reading...News of invitation follows announcement that US president will visit Ireland and Northern Ireland next week
Joe Biden has accepted an invitation from King Charles III for a state visit, a White House spokesperson has said.
The invitation was made during a “friendly” 25 to 30 minute phone call in which Biden congratulated the king on his upcoming coronation, which the US president will not attend.
Continue reading...Anti-monarchist claims the official portraits of the head of state are ‘scandalous’ at the time of spending cuts
Ministers have been accused of “losing the plot” after setting aside £8m to offer every public body a free portrait of King Charles.
In a move that drew criticism amid complaints of shrinking budgets across Whitehall and local government, Oliver Dowden, the cabinet office minister, said it was part of plans to celebrate the new reign and bring the nation together.
Continue reading...Charles and Camilla also remembered the Kindertransport children, during a state visit to Germany
King Charles and Germany’s president have lain wreaths in remembrance of the victims of the second world war, in the ruins of a bombed-out church in Hamburg.
The monarch joined President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and the mayor of Hamburg, Peter Tschentscher, to leave floral tributes at St Nikolai memorial church, whose spire was a landmark used by bomber crews during the conflict 80 years ago and has since become a monument against war.
Continue reading...Planned visit to St Nikolai memorial in Hamburg contrasts with approach taken by his mother
King Charles will this week become the first British monarch to lay a wreath to the German victims of allied air raids in the second world war.
The move is a departure from his mother’s handling of the historically sensitive subject on previous royal visits to the country.
Continue reading...Charles and president likely to instead stage back-to-back visits to mark 25 years of Good Friday agreement
Hopes that Joe Biden’s landmark trip to Belfast next month will be rounded off by a meeting with King Charles are fading after the US president brought forward by a week his trip to celebrate 25 years of peace.
It now appears likely the king and the president will stage back-to-back visits in an echo of historic visits to Dublin by Barack Obama and the queen in 2011.
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