The organizers and Buckingham Palace say Saturday’s coronation ceremony for King Charles will be Britain’s grandest in a generation and help the economy.
Charles and Camilla will be crowned at Westminster Abbey in a mile-long procession by hundreds of military members in a 1,000-year-old ceremony.
“This is a proud moment in our national history,” declared Earl Marshal Edward Fitzalan-Howard, the Duke of Norfolk and England’s highest peer.
“This is also a time to remind ourselves of the pride we have in our great country and our unwritten constitution which has served us so well for over 1,000 years during our long history,” Fitzalan-Howard, whose family has organized state occasions since 1483, told reporters.
More than 4,000 armed services members, including military bands, will march from the Abbey to Buckingham Palace, where the newly crowned king and queen will receive a royal salute on the grounds.
Fitzalan-Howard promised “a glorious display of pageantry.” Military aircraft will fly over Buckingham Palace after the royals wave to the spectators.
As the palace has said, the ceremony will depict the many ages.
Although 100 heads of state will attend, Westminster Abbey will have 2,300 guests instead of 8,000 in 1953.
Critics have questioned the cost of a lavish coronation when the public faces a cost of living crisis. Still, a palace spokesperson said there were reports that more than 1 billion pounds ($1.25 billion) would flow into the struggling economy.
“It’s not for me to say how accurate those figures are, but certainly the theory pertains that the celebrations are an enormous economic boost to the nation,” the spokesman said, adding that having so many heads of state there was a great networking opportunity.
However, Pantheon Macroeconomics predicted that British GDP would fall 0.2% month-to-month in May due to the extra bank holiday the government has allocated for the coronation.
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