The eyes of the world are on London. This Saturday, May 6 at noon (French time), King Charles III will be crowned in Westminster Abbey in the capital of the kingdom in front of billions of spectators from all over the planet.
An event that Buckingham Palace, however, wanted less lavish than the previous one, that of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. At that time, 8,000 guests were invited (compared to 2,000 this year) and the ceremony it lasted three hours versus two this year.
However, the cost of the event should be much higher. If the crown has promised to be transparent by subsequently communicating an estimate of the cost, the English press already publishes its own estimates.
So if the coronation of Elizabeth II had been valued at the time at 1.5 million pounds sterling (the equivalent of 50 million today), that of Carlos III would be closer to 100 million pounds (that is, 114 million euros). A sum that would be much more important according to the English tabloid The Mirror than the figure for its part in 250 million pounds, or 285 million euros. Which would be more than five times the cost of the 1953 coronation.
171 million euros for security
Why so much inflation? For the pharaonic sum allocated to the security of the event, much higher than at the time. The British press estimates it at 171 million euros. 29,000 police officers will be mobilized for a week, day and night. You will have to pay a lot of overtime. They will not be alone in ensuring the safety of the coronation. 2,500 specialized agents and the so-called CBRN units -chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear- will circulate through the capital over the next few days.
For Tom Tugendhat, the Minister of State for Security, it will be nothing less than “one of the most important security operations the UK has ever known”. In fact, the world of 2023 is no longer the world of the post-war. More circulation of individuals, more media coverage, which multiplies the risks of terrorist attacks that lie in wait for the organizers.
What does not change, however, is the management of the invoice related to the coronation. It will liquidate it as it has always been the public treasury, that is, ultimately, the taxpayer. The event is not just about the royal family, but about the entire British nation, which will have a global reach that the country could benefit from. As can be judged by the audiovisual productions (the series The crown on Netflix), the media coverage, the many products bearing the image of the Queen sold around the world, the royal family is a central element of the UK’s soft power (influence) in the world.
A cost that has not aroused great controversy throughout the Channel, but that the majority of Britons (51%) according to a YouGov survey would still prefer that the royal family pay the bill.
Because the coronation falls quite badly in the current situation. The country is more affected than its neighbors in the old continent by inflation. Price increases were still over 10% last March with food prices rising 19% over a year. Brits are suffering losses in purchasing power and have faced supply disruptions on their supermarket shelves for months. Strikes have multiplied since the beginning of the year in a country that has not experienced such a situation since the 1970s.
The return of the United Kingdom to the fore?
However, the British government wants to be optimistic about the consequences of the event. Initially, the costs will be covered in part by broadcast rights sold to channels around the world.
But it is above all the expected commercial repercussions that promise to be juicy. The British press figures them at 1,600 million euros, including 963 million for consumption (1.5 million Britons are expected in shops, pubs and restaurants in London) but also 367 million for tourist spending during these three days or even 280 million euros in sales of derivative products
Especially after years of poor tourism related to Covid and Brexit, the UK expects to receive some 35 million tourists this year, 18% more than last year. Enough to restore tone to a country that has been less attractive in recent years. With this in mind, the coronation bill would be something of a marketing investment for the UK ‘product’…
Source: BFM TV
