On Saturday, the coronation of King Charles and Queen Camilla takes place in Westminster Abbey in London.
The city is now preparing for the third historic royal giant event in less than a year.
Last June, they celebrated Queen Elizabeth’s 70th year on the throne, knowing full well that it would be one of the last times the Queen was seen in public. Nevertheless, the surprise and sadness among the British was great when the queen passed away just a few months later.
The funeral was held in September and once again London was faced with great challenges with an influx of hundreds of thousands of people who wanted to be part of the historic days.
Statues and facades are washed
And now it is time to mobilize again. Silent rehearsals of the procession have been carried out at night in the streets of London. Westminster Abbey has been closed to the public in preparation for the coronation with the 2,000 invited guests. Statues, facades and monuments have been washed and plastered.
In Buckingham Palace, one of the great halls has been scaled for rehearsals with the exact dimensions and where the special platform for the coronation has been recreated so that Charles and Camilla can practice in peace and quiet.
Extra holiday for the British
Three days of celebrations have been planned, with Britons getting an extra bank holiday on Monday.
The coronation and the extreme resources required to make London safe when hundreds of heads of state and government come here again are estimated to cost the equivalent of almost one billion Swedish kronor of taxpayers’ money.
Many critical voices have been raised in protest against what they say is a waste in the midst of the deep economic crisis that is hitting millions of Britons hard.
The anti-royalist movement has grown since Elizabeth’s death and several protests are planned over the coronation weekend.
New challenges
What is clear is that King Charles and Queen Camilla are facing completely new challenges. The pressure to be monarchs in the age is much greater than before, with an increasingly fragmented commonwealth.
The dark history of British colonial oppression and the slave trade means that more countries now want to become republics. And in a Britain of economic crisis and widening social divides, the monarchy and the inherited privileges that come with it are increasingly being questioned.