Throughout London I noticed differences in views of the coronation of King Charles. Many shops advertised the coronation with promotions and celebrations in honor of the King. This helped to draw eyes to their doors and bring in more customers. I went with a group of students down to a park with a coronation screening area. We wanted to see the event but also people’s reactions to it. Prior to the coronation we saw people starting to wait by the palace even if that meant camping out in the rain. At the coronation screening, almost everyone had a small United Kingdom flag to wave, and some carried big flags draped around them. One person was dressed in a suit covered in UK flags from head to toe. The majority of the people that I saw expressed enthusiasm for the King in some manner.
Not everyone seemed as enthusiastic, however. One person whom we met in a Soho shop mentioned that she did not remember that the coronation was happening until she was reminded the day prior. It felt as if people were either super dedicated to the monarchy or paid very little attention to it. I also noticed many people from other nations celebrating as well. We saw Americans in the crowds celebrating at the screening, waving UK flags. There was also someone from Canada, who could have been alive when Canada was declared independent from the UK, waving a Canadian flag. This event brings in a lot of money into the British economy because of the appeal to particular people from other nations.