On Saturday, tens of thousands of British citizens as well as visitors to London from throughout Europe, dared a fierce rain storm to glimpse the United Kingdom’s newly-minted King Charles III and wife Queen Camilla in its first coronation of a monarch in 70 years.
“The hard-core monarchists will tell you there were 300,000 people out there to see Charles and Camilla ride from Westminster Abbey to Buckingham Palace and the republicans [those who want to abolish the monarchy] will say there were three,” Ben Harris-Quinney, chairman of the Bow Group (the UK’s oldest conservative foundation), told Newsmax.
“The truth lies somewhere in between,” he quickly added, “For the most part, there are a lot more British who want to keep the monarchy that opt for a presidential system.”
Brief chats with people bearing umbrellas in one hand and the Union Jack flag in another bore out Harris-Quinney’s conclusion.
“Brilliant!” is how Donna McCann, a small businesswoman from Devon, characterized King Charles, “He’s trained for this all his life.”
McCann’s teenaged daughter agreed, and pointed out to us: “My Mum has been teaching me all about the royal family. And our king is a part of our history.”
The inevitable problem some have with Charles was raised with the McCanns: that he is the first divorced British monarch since Henry VIII and that his second wife was someone with whom he had an adulterous relationship while his late first wife was alive.
“Many men have second wives today,” said Donna, “And it’s just part of the times we live in.”
Her opinion was echoed by James Hattam, co-owner of the Original Jigsaw Company, which has just come out with a 1000-piece puzzle of Buckingham Place to commemorate the coronation.
“We live in a time when many couples get divorced and the former man and wife re-marry,” Hattam told us, “More importantly, he and the Queen represent continuity — carrying on for his beloved mother.”
Martin Strack, who came from Dusseldorf, Germany to watch Charles’ coronation with wife Tanya, explained the reason succinctly: “I like him.”
There are other opinions. Darrell McCarthy, a British construction worker, and his partner Jess, who is a lawyer in London, explained to Newsmax that “we don’t consider ourselves royalists. And we watched most of the ceremony on the telly before coming out.”
But while abjuring the term “royalist,” Darrell and Jess do say they support keeping the monarchy and that “the king and queen do a lot for charity and, in this day , that’s important.”
A rare example on coronation day of outright abhorrence for the royal couple came from Angela (who refused to give her last name), who wore a dress bedecked with photos of the king’s late first wife Princess Diana.
“Diana was a real queen and as for Camilla, I never met anyone who likes her,” she said, adding that “She and the king should conduct themselves morally.”
But that is definitely a minority opinion on the rainy day that Charles and Camilla were crowned king and queen of today’s United Kingdom.
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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