LONDON: Kirtesh Patel’s market stall in north London has everything a royal fan could want, from Charles III keyrings and spoons to thimbles with the king’s face on them.
The only thing missing is customers, with just a week to go until Charles’s set-piece coronation at Westminster Abbey on May 6.
The last coronation was held 70 years ago in 1953, when huge crowds turned out to witness the formal investiture of the king’s mother, Queen Elizabeth II.
This time round, there appears to be little of the same public fervour.
A poll in mid-April indicated that nearly two-thirds of Britons were not interested in the ceremony, unlike last year when Elizabeth celebrated her record 70th year on the throne.
Patel, 44, sees it reflected in his sales.
“Fewer people are buying things than for the jubilee,” he complained at his Walthamstow market stall, which offers £6 ($7.50) coronation mugs and £3 key rings.
“There’s less interest for this king.”
Public familiarity with Charles could be one reason, taking the shine off his popularity after seven decades as the popular Elizabeth’s heir apparent.
The elderly king, 74, and his wife Camilla, 75, also have none of the youthful glamour of his eldest son and heir, Prince William, 40, and William’s wife, Kate, 41.
And harsh financial realities, with inflation stuck stubbornly at more than 10 per cent, have meant hard-pressed Britons have other priorities than coronation trinkets.
Nearby on the market, retired teacher Carole McNeil, 82, insists she is not “anti” the monarchy but is angry about the cost of the coronation, which is paid for by the taxpayer.
“I’ll watch the ceremony, at least partly,” she says. “It costs too much… It should be a smaller ceremony.
“When you hear the amount of money they (the royal family) have. Why aren’t they paying themselves?”
Rose Veitch is a self-described republican, but unlike some is not going to be on the streets and protesting on coronation day. – AFP
