Prince William, Prince of Wales speaks at the Coronation Concert held in the grounds of Windsor Castle, Berkshire, to celebrate the coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla. Picture date: Sunday May 7, 2023. Stefan Rousseau/Pool via REUTERS
LONDON — The late Queen Elizabeth would be “very proud” of King Charles on his coronation, his son William said on Sunday as he celebrated his father at a concert at Windsor Castle, and Britons held thousands of street parties in the king’s honor.
Amid pomp and pageantry, Charles and his wife Camilla were crowned at London’s Westminster Abbey on Saturday in Britain’s biggest ceremonial event in 70 years.
A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said Charles and Camilla were “deeply touched by the events of yesterday” and “profoundly grateful both to all those who helped to make it such a glorious occasion and to the very many who turned out to show their support.”
Charles and Camilla and other senior royals joined an audience of 20,000 members of the public and invited guests for the “Coronation Concert” at Windsor, the king’s palace to the west of London.
“As my grandmother said when she was crowned, coronations are a declaration of our hopes for the future. And I know she’s up there, fondly keeping an eye on us, and she’d be a very proud mother,” Charles’ heir, William, said at a speech at the evening concert, to huge cheers.
William paid tribute to his father’s service and others who serve, including teachers and hospital workers, many of whom have been striking in recent months.
Among the performers were singers Lionel Richie, Katy Perry and Andrea Bocelli, pop group Take That and pianist Lang Lang, while Hollywood actor Tom Cruise and Winnie the Pooh also featured.
Charles was shown waving a mini union flag from the royal box and laughing at jokes, including one that labelled Charles, a keen painter, as the “artist formerly known as Prince”.
The festivities included a “Lighting up the Nation” event, with projections and laser displays illuminating landmarks and areas of natural beauty across the country.
Come together
Earlier on Sunday, the king’s younger brother, Prince Edward, his sister Princess Anne, and his nieces Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie attended “Big Lunch” events, joining some of the estimated 50,000 street parties being held around the country.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was among those hosting a coronation lunch, with the guests including Ukrainian families, youth groups and U.S. first lady Jill Biden.
At a street party in Hackney, east London, local councillor Joe Walker said that the coronation had been a unifying force as the country recovers from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent economic turmoil.
“I think especially after the pandemic and the lockdown, and during the cost of living crisis people need a reason to come together and celebrate and today it has been a really great day to do that,” he said.
Not everyone has celebrated the coronation, however, with anti-monarchists saying the “right to protest peacefully in the UK no longer exists” after some activists were detained for hours on Saturday.
Police said they believed the protesters intended to disrupt the royal procession.
Responding to questions raised over whether the police response had been disproportionate and curtailed the right to free speech, Culture Minister Lucy Frazer said she believed the police had overall “managed to get that balance right”.