By New York Post (World News) | Created at 2024-11-22 02:25:05 | Updated at 2024-11-22 08:48:02
6 hours ago
It cost a king’s ransom.
King Charles and Queen Camilla’s coronation ceremony last year cost taxpayers more than $90 million — but the eye-boggling figure is apparently a bargain compared to the lavish ceremonies held for their predecessors, a new government report revealed.
The extravagant spectacle crowning the new British monarch on May 6, 2023, was broadcast to millions of viewers across the globe as thousands of Brits lined the streets.
Roughly 100 world leaders, foreign leaders and celebrities watched the grand event in person at London’s Westminster Abbey for a not-so-small sum of $63.6 million, according to the annual report published by the government’s culture department Thursday.
Another $27.3 million was spent on added security measures and policing, the report shows.
Charles, 76, wore fur and velvet robes with gold details and took his seat in the 700-year-old Coronation Chair as the heavily bejeweled St. Edward’s Crown was placed atop his head by the Archbishop of Canterbury.
The cultural department called it “a once-in-a-generation moment which provided an occasion for the entire country to come together in celebration, and offered a unique opportunity to celebrate and strengthen our national identity and showcase the UK to the world.”
King Charles’ coronation was Britain’s largest ceremonial event in seven decades — but it paled in size compared to his mother’s in 1953 and those before her.
Queen Elizabeth’s 2022 funeral and related activities came in at a much higher estimated cost of $203.9 million.
The coronation’s reduced price tag was meant to signal some level of modernization among the royals at a time when everyday citizens were struggling with inflation and higher costs of living.
At the same time, Buckingham Palace said the celebration would create an economic boost all around Britain.
One critic, however, called the cost of King Charles’ coronation “obscene.”
“It was an extravagance we simply didn’t have to have. It was completely unnecessary and a waste of money in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis in a country that is facing huge amounts of child poverty,” Graham Smith, CEO of Republic — which wants to abolish the monarchy in favor of an elected head of state — told the Guardian.
“When kids are unable to afford lunches at school, to spend over ($90 million) on this parade is obscene.”
With Post wires
