Last year, King Charles’s coronation was supposed to be the biggest and grandest occasion of the decade, if not century. Most people weren’t alive for Queen Elizabeth II’s 1953 coronation, so Charles’s coronation was a historical moment for everyone under the age of 70. There were so many problems though – QEII’s coronation was of an attractive young queen just years after the second world war. Charles’s coronation was for a septuagenarian who married his horsey mistress and ran his one charismatic son out of the country. People tuned in, but only to see Prince Harry (who left right after the ceremony). We knew last year that the coronation did not stimulate the British economy, not even locally, within London. We also know that Charles rejected the idea of a “budget coronation,” even if he and Camilla banned everyone else from wearing tiaras, crowns and coronets. So how much did this exercise in narcissism cost the British taxpayer? £72 million.
Last year’s Coronation of King Charles III cost taxpayers £72m, government figures have revealed. Just over £50m was spent by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), which coordinated the event, while policing costs came to almost £22m, which were paid for by the Home Office.
The DCMS described the Coronation as a “once-in-a-generation” moment and the figures came broadly within unofficial estimates, which suggested it would be between £50 and £100m.
The Coronation in May 2023 had been described as a “slimmed down affair”, with the Westminster Abbey guest list only a quarter of the size of Queen Elizabeth II’s Coronation at the same venue in 1953.
Being a state event, the Coronation was paid for by the UK Government and Buckingham Palace through the Sovereign Grant – which comes from a percentage of the profits of the Crown Estate revenue – and the Privy Purse, money from a private estate known as the Duchy of Lancaster. By the end of March 2024, the Duchy of Lancaster had £647m of net assets under its control.
There had been criticism aimed at the public funding of the Coronation, which came during a cost-of-living crisis in the UK. A poll carried out by YouGov the month before the Coronation revealed that 52% of Londoners did not believe the Coronation should be paid for by taxpayers. There had been much speculation about the cost to the public purse, which the DCMS said could not be revealed until after the event.
The DCMS annual accounts report released on Thursday said the Coronation reached an estimated global audience of two billion people in 125 countries, saying it “offered a unique opportunity to celebrate and strengthen our national identity and showcase the UK to the world”.
I won’t place the blame entirely on Charles’s shoulders – I remember reading that Rishi Sunak wanted the coronation to be a big event too, because they were all riding the high they got from the global attention at QEII’s funeral in 2022. But yeah… people didn’t give a sh-t. They especially didn’t want to be billed £72 million for one man’s fancy hat party, historical moment or not. There were so many layers to Charles and Sunak misreading the national mood – it could have been a more businesslike event, done simply with little drama. Or they could have leaned into the inherent drama and asked everyone to wear all of their family jewels and really put on a show. They chose neither and billed the taxpayer for the most boring show in the world. Anyway… given the cost of the coronation AND the 53% raise of the Sovereign Grant, it’s past time for British taxpayers to reel in their mad king. Speaking of, Republic’s Graham Smith had a lot to say:
Republic, which campaigns to replace the monarchy with an elected head of state and more democratic political system, described the coronation as an “obscene” waste of taxpayers’ money.
“I would be very surprised if £72m was the whole cost,” the Republic CEO, Graham Smith, told the Guardian. As well as the Home Office policing and DCMS costs included in the figures, he said the Ministry of Defence, Transport for London, fire brigades and local councils also incurred costs related to the coronation, with other estimates putting the totalspend at between £100m and £250m.
“But even that kind of money – £72m – is incredible,” Smith added. “It’s a huge amount of money to spend on one person’s parade when there was no obligation whatsoever in the constitution or in law to have a coronation, and when we were facing cuts to essential services. It was a parade that Charles insisted on at huge expense to the taxpayer, and this is on top of the huge inheritance tax bill he didn’t [have to] pay, on top of the £500m-a-year cost of the monarchy.”
Under a clause agreed in 1993 by the then prime minister, John Major, any inheritance passed “sovereign to sovereign” avoids the 40% levy applied to assets valued at more than £325,000.
Smith added: “It was an extravagance we simply didn’t have to have. It was completely unnecessary and a waste of money in the middle of a cost of living crisis in a country that is facing huge amounts of child poverty. When kids are unable to afford lunches at school, to spend over £70m on this parade is obscene.”
Yep, I agree. About all of it.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
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- Coronation of King Charles III 6th May 2023 King Charles III pictured arriving with Camilla the Queen Consort for the coronation service at Westminster Abbey. 06-05-23,Image: 774194451, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: -, Model Release: no, Credit line: Dan Charity / Avalon
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- Queen Camilla receives a royal salute from members of the military in the gardens of Buckingham Place, London, following the coronation.,Image: 774211937, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: -, Model Release: no, Credit line: Andrew Milligan / Avalon
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- King Charles III and Queen Camilla are joined by Prince William, Prince of Wales, Catherine, Princess of Wales, Prince George, Prince Louis and Princess Charlotte on the balcony of Buckingham Palace after their Coronation in London, United Kingdom, on 06 May 2023.,Image: 774227092, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: -, Model Release: no, Credit line: Marc Aspland The Times/Sunday Times / Avalon
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- King Charles III leaves Westminster Abbey after his Coronation, London, United Kingdom, on 06 May 2023.,Image: 774228682, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: -, Model Release: no, Credit line: Dan Charity / Avalon
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- Britain’s King Charles III wearing the Imperial state Crown carrying the Sovereign’s Orb and Sceptre leaves Westminster Abbey after the Coronation Ceremonies in central London on May 6, 2023. – The set-piece coronation is the first in Britain in 70 years, and only the second in history to be televised. Charles will be the 40th reigning monarch to be crowned at the central London church since King William I in 1066. Outside the UK, he is also king of 14 other Commonwealth countries, including Australia, Canada and New Zealand.,Image: 774231888, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: -, Model Release: no, Credit line: BEN STANSALL / Avalon
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- King Charles III and Queen Camilla wave from the balcony of Buckingham Palace following their coronation, London, United Kingdom, 06 May 2023.,Image: 774245294, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: -, Model Release: no, Credit line: Tim Clarke / Avalon
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- King Charles III wearing the St Edward’s Crown and Queen Camilla wearing the Queen Mary’s Crown during their coronation ceremony in Westminster Abbey, London. Featuring: Queen Camilla and King Charles III Where: London, United Kingdom When: 06 May 2023 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- Prince Edward, The Prince of Wales kisses his father King Charles III during his coronation ceremony in Westminster Abbey, London. Featuring: Prince Edward and King Charles III Where: London, United Kingdom When: 06 May 2023 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- King Charles III during his coronation at Westminster Abbey, London. Featuring: King Charles III Where: London, United Kingdom When: 06 May 2023 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
Wow for that crappy coronation? Think what good that money would have done for the people and not some rich costume wearing jackass to have an ornate and tacky hat placed on his evil head ceremony.
The Brits could care less about what $72 million dollars could do when there’s Montecito to talk about 🤣🤣
72M pounds sterling. $90,216,000.00 US dollars. Your point stands. With cuts to fuel allowances for the elderly, why begrudge a bit of coin for some Potterish cosplay when there are how many bathrooms in that Montecito mansion?
*Only a tiny percentage of Brits!!
Or, you know, plow some of that into the sub-par rental properties. Oh, wait, that’s mixing public & private assets. Then again, isn’t that what Charles does anyway?
Holy moly, that is a ridiculous amount of money.
They insist on footing the bill for a group of people who are only upheld because of an inbred bloodline and tradition. How embarrassing.
A bloodline of thieves and grifters. That they are on the public dole is astonishing, embarassing, and immoral.
They should not be paid by taxpayers.
Yeah, I agree with Graham Smith – that number is too low.
I do, too.
Creative bookkeeping? Leaving certain expenses out?
British people have a tendency to defend the royals by saying they attract tourists and easily pay for themselves and earn money for Britain. So after years of hearing that from people IRL and reading it from time to time, I’m surprised that they haven’t said how much money Britain earned from this once in a lifetime event to counteract the grumbling.
The times I’ve been to England/London etc, it has NOT been to “see royalty”. I went to see the architecture, the *history* of the place, museums, theater, and the shopping! lol
Just as Versailles is a HUGE tourist attraction for France, if England would EMPTY the palaces/properties, and kick out the left-behinds, making them into museums/public parks for visitors, etc), then THAT would bring in more revenue.
Right now, the ONLY ones profiting from royalty are the left-behinds, and the landed aristos who hoard it all.
Correction: the tiny number of Brits who are ardently pro-monarchy.
Speaking as a Brit, most of us are negative or neutral towards royalty.
Honestly, Americans don’t understand that most Brits simply don’t pay attention to royals ever, they don’t impinge on our consciousness at all because they’re just kind of there.
And the reason we’re not protesting is because dismantling monarchy would mean having to build a whole brand new legal and political structure from the ground up, would cost billions, and cause years of chaos.
That’s way too low. I wonder if they excluded a massive cost like security from this number.
Agreed and considering the cost of the Queen’s funeral was allegedly 162 million pounds.
I agree that I think its too low for the coronation itself.
But we also have to think of all the other costs – it wasn’t just a coronation. there was a concert that presumably involved a great deal of logistics in terms of police and transportation. At this point I forget a lot of the other pageantry and such involved but it wasn’t like there was “just” a coronation ceremony.
The royal family has convinced themselves that events like these “cheer the nation” or something and they really don’t. I can see how QEII’s coronation was different, marking the beginning of a new era after World War II, the pretty young queen with the handsome husband and two young children, the glamorous sister, etc.
This event was just sad and boring. Harry’s hanger got more attention than Charles did lol.
I posted something similar below. All that pomp and pageantry doesn’t just appear overnight.
But, I love how, along side The Sovereign’s Orb and Sceptre, The Rod of Mercy, The Sword of Offering, The Ring of Dignity, we have The Hanger of I Don’t Give a F*ck. Eventually, it should join the other royal symbols in the Tower of London.
Don’t forget Charlie’s NEW gold carriage, as the “old” one was “too jarring” for side-piece’s old bones. I’m sure El Cheapo didn’t pay the cost of all the new clothes/gowns either. Or the reception costs for all the foreign dignitaries, their lodgings, etc.
I think it’s way more than that 🙄🙄
Not one person in the present RF has any concept of money and value. When you are so rich, you don’t have to budget and never think twice about letting someone else pick up the tab.
Yes, they don’t cos the taxpayers picking up the tab.
They should be asked to forgo the pay rise next year to offset the cost of the coronation as well as enable UK to cope with the cost of living crisis
Even Sky News is reporting this in great detail- including that
“despite talk of a coronation boost,the UK’s economy actually contracted in the month of May 2023”
What a waste of public money, this is even more depressing after the Slum landlords, ripping off charities and charging the NHS millions of pounds exposé,all during a cost of living crisis for the average person in theUK!
Roseberry, You answered my question from above about by how much extra money the coronation aided the British economy. So it did not. Thank you.
This is where I would usually go into my anti-monarchy spiel and really work up a lather about royalty and royalists. But, after November 5th here in the United States of Everything Is Horrifying, I can’t do it in good conscience. My days of feeling superior to the poor, dumbf**s in the UK are officially over. The British ended up winning the American Revolution after all. 😱
We have the slight comfort of knowing we didn’t pay for the parade. But it is quickly overshadowed by the impending dread of what kind of parade Trump will throw himself as a quasi-coronation…all on OUR dime.
I think we will be paying for things much worse than Charles’ stupid parade.
Last night on radio and satellite there was nothing NOTHING but U.K acts on. All “the crown” subjects. We have been taken over.
When everything around you is shitty, it’s easier sometimes to look at a different sort of shit if that makes sense. It’s a distraction in a way. It’s not about superiority of one country over another. Bc we don’t have any stones at this point to throw really. So Heck yeah, the RF and BM is effed up. Me talking about that doesn’t negate the fact that I’m very aware that the us is effed up too. Its more that I don’t want to start every post with the caveat of yea I know we suck too. Bc that goes without saying.
You’ll be paying for rounding up tens of thousands of immigrants and housing them in internment camps.
Why do you feel superior to us?
Genuinely baffled by that. I’ve lived in America and I like it, but free healthcare, a socialist system generally, no gun crime etc. and of course worker rights, lots of paid time off, limitless sick leave, paid parental time as standard, etc.
I loved my time living in the US but the standard living is far below what I’m used to.
Britain definitely has problems but I can’t understand how some meaningless figurehead most Brits never think about even factors into that.
And William gets money from taxpayers and has the gall to preach about helping homeless. Then some ardent royalists say they all “get money from tourism.” As if Royals are “tourist” attractions.
I agree with Kaiser, it should have been either slimmed down like the Dutch royals or a grand affair with peers of the realm in attendance with their coronets and tiaras, this affair was just sad and boring.
72 million is too much money for a carriage ride to and from church and a ceremony.
Once in a generation event? Technically, sure, but there will be another one innnnn 5 to 10 years? Or possibly sooner, considering his poor health?
As the saying on here goes, tinfoil hat on. I have a suspicion that KC has known about his cancer since the coronation but still wanted to have his fancy hat party, and then revealed it for sympathy after being outed as the Royal racists. Has that man really been having chemotherapy for 9 months now? Tinfoil hat off.
“. . . the Coronation as a “once-in-a-generation” moment . . .”
Hahahhaha! Of course it is. Once Chuck dies, the next generation takes over. I’ve the word “moment” after the quote, too.
I remember, the police arrested some protestors before the coronation started, so I thought most of this expense was security. But, they say, the coordination of the event costed £50m. How? They didn’t build anything for the event. Is that the transportation cost of the guests? Payment to the people taking part in the ceremony? Isn’t that just too much money with too little info? It seems like all the governments find money easily for unnecessary things.
I imagine there’s a cost to dragging out and spiffing up all the paraphernalia – horses, uniforms, hats, swords, capes, crowns – special shirts and oils and unguents. Carriages and limos and cars and banners. Rehearsals and timing, rental of spaces. There must be issues of insurance and security for the jewels and scepters and Gauntlets of Sincerity. There was the Royal Salute afterwards and the military fly-by. It all costs and people have to coordinate every detail, including coordinating with the media. Plus, there were many other events surrounding the coronation.
Yeah, but I still don’t see how that would total to £50m. The more important part is, why don’t they give such detailed cost analysis like you put it here? It is taxpayer’s money, so they should give a breakdown. We got thousand stories on Frogmore renovation. They even talked about how much bathtub costed to the taxpayers, but the media is content with a summary here? £50m for one day event. It is so bizarre.
@sevenblue – it’s a one-day event, but it took months to plan. If you look at just one thing:
I think the military flyover for the Super Bowl costs about $4 million, and that’s for about 6 planes. The coronation plan was for about 70 military planes from all the services that were going to be flying in waves starting from the North Sea and ending over BP – incredibly complex planning with groups that don’t usually fly together and I don’t know what kind of rehearsal they had. The plans changed the last minute because of bad weather and they had to bring in a different team of 8 planes and a whole bunch of helicopters – all for about 2 1/2 minutes – who knows what that cost.
They built a gold carriage. Charles didn’t use an existing one, he had one specially made.
I think, some rich guy paid for the carriage? It is probably not included in this cost to the taxpayer.
Yeah, it should have been more how Denmark does it or they should have gone big with everyone showing up in tiaras. But even with all the guests showing up fancy I doubt it would have been worth it for the cost. But it could have been somewhat more interesting. Bc Charles and Camilla being the ones in jewels was just not it.
And the poor man didn’t even get to wear his “britches”!
Don’t forget the shiny opera shoes! (Didn’t know such a thing existed!)
Is this a money scam? For 72 million Prince Harry and “will andrew come” was the only drama. Maybe charles shouldve worn his coronation breeches/britches— see the yesterday’s post about his banned coronation fluff pants.
100% scam, fraud, creative accounting, etc.
Nope, Chuckles waited too long to settle for a slimmed down coronation. Oh no! He had to go *big* to rival his late mother’s Fancy Hat Day. His jealousy and envy extend to his own mother’s reign too. There was no way he’d let Betty’s party be grander than his, no expense would be spared.
Too bad Betty’s was better regardless.
KC has the richest to ay for this nonsense himself. All this extravagance from a family that turn up empty handed to food banks?!
I wonder if this was the topic on the morning talk shows 🙄🙄 I guess know one cares about $72 million dollars when there’s Montecito to talk about 😍
Not one mention of the New Ride he had to have! The new Golden Carriage! Couldn’t use the old model! Had to have a new one built that will get used,never!
That golden carriage was paid by some rich guy according to the reports. So, it wasn’t even included in this amount. Imagine if they added that too.
Is “the rich guy” actually “the taxpayer”? Because at this point I firmly believe Charles thinks they are one individual who have endless funds and take great joy in paying for whatever he wants.
That said. I still maintain that he didn’t invite the other aristos because he sold the seats to wealthy foreign parties or gave the seats to the wealthy foreign parties that have been so generous with him in the past.
Let’s hope KC does live for another 20 years or else while we are going through austerity UK tax payer has to fund Will’s wubbly. I bet Will won’t settle for a budget do either!!
Did Kate pay for her own tin foil tiara ? I joke. Kate pays for nothing. I meant to ask if this was part of the expense borne by the taxpayer.
Yes, £32,000
And not one smile. He gets what he thinks he wants, and he is still not happy. He is seen sitting in a gold carriage, before the ceremony, grousing to that ungainly cow he married, and not one smile. He is not a happy man. One can’t put solid gold plate over an uneasy conscience and expect to be happy. Even when Diana died, he was whining about meeeeeeeeeeeee. They’ll blame this on me, won’t they? Yes, they will. Any house must have mainstays to hold it up, and Charles is such an ingrown, fecking idiot that he kicked his two mainstays out from under the house of Windsor: Diana and Harry. And Meghan. This is not a kind or smart man. Graham Smith is my hero. I hope he achieves his goal. Charles seems to be helping him.
Can you just imagine how brilliant the house of Windsor would be shining if Diana were the Queen, and Harry and Meghan were able to do their magic unhendered and unabused. That would be a dream team
I was working near Westminster Abbey at the time of the Coronation, and the whole area was swarming with police incl armed police (rarely seen in the UK) so heaven knows what this alone cost. I doubt £72m covered everything as well.
Odd really because Westminster is actually a crime hotspot in London. Just a stone’s throw away is Westminster Bridge which is a haven for petty thievery: pickpockets, illegal street traders hawking dubious food from stalls, gaudy (& unlicensed) rickshaws trying to fleece tourists, and ‘cup and ball’ scammers. And not a police officer to be seen from one day to the next. The bemusement at all the police suddenly disappearing as soon as you stepped onto the bridge – the incongruity of it all – can be well imagined.
I wouldn’t call WB unsafe exactly – but if you ever visit make sure you keep your eye on your possessions, walk purposefully, and don’t give ANYONE ANY MONEY. Don’t count on any police being around either.
All this lawless behaviour is another stone’s throw from New Scotland Yard, the HQ of the Metropolitan Police. And in the sight of the Houses of Parliament – MPs can view it when enjoying drinks on the terrace there.
So it is saddening but not surprising that priorities are so skewed. Tourists actually bring in money to the capital, and should be welcomed and protected – as should the 1000’s of workers who cross that bridge every day – and they are not protected enough. But when it came to glorifying this individual on his Big Gold Hat day, miraculously no expense must be spared.
This is so silly. And I know pickpockets truly suck. But to Americans – it’s such an old timey SKILL that our media is enthralled with.
it’s seemingly such an outside of America / Canada thing. (I can’t speak to Mexico as I haven’t been there)
Americans truly LOVE the notion of a good pickpocketer. It’s in so many movies and shows. I do wonder what the actual pick pockets think of the glamorization of their skills.
But the idea that you can seemingly twirl past a man in a backless plunging evening gown and in that fraction of a second have gotten his retinal scan, his finger prints AND his access card to “the vault” is just classic American cinema. I always scream “where did you put the card?!? And your thirty million gadgets?!?” And it’s always in a garter that isn’t accessible in any way. Unless it’s the new lanyard type of theft device and then it’s somehow erotically hidden between her breasts.
I’d actually watch the shit out of a show where they show actually pick pockets doing their stuff.
I guess the nicest way to put it is that Charles is not good value for the money. And Camilla is definitely not value added. He gives me a “the emperor has no clothes” vibe, or definitely the emperor has no guts.
I love how they call this a once in a generation coronation…as if Charles is young and not just a decade or two from death with a young-ish William waiting to snatch that crown.
We need to copy France asap.
The BRF is the ultimate money pit and they won’t stop sucking the British people dry unless they finally cut them loose to support themselves.. I often wonder how many people die a year from lack of help or services because so much money goes to these greedy people. With the slumlord status of these royals it obvious they do not care about their subjects as long as the rent is paid on time and they have new helicopters and gold carriages.