Should the Coronation be “slimmed down”?

YES! The coronation needs to be very Slim!

After the brilliantly organised funeral, I did wonder how, if such things can be so incredibly well organised here, how come too many other things are a shambles?

Yes, it should be ‘slimmed down’.

The Queen’s funeral was a great event, marking the life of our oldest and longest lived monarch.

But the future of the Monarchy needs to move on from Elizabeth’s long reign, and a smaller, less ostentatious Coronation is where it needs to start, which is what Charles and William will have concluded I’m sure.

A certain amount of pomp and tradition, but more in keeping with a new era.

I am in favour of the Monarchy, btw.

I had a “need to go to Specsavers” moment there. I thought it said Coronation St. I say yes to both options!

The queen had her coronation in the post-war years and I imagine the general opinion was that it would uplift people after so much hardship - not sure we. should compare the pandemic to WW2 though.
Everyone is feeling the squeeze now so perhaps some savings should be made although I do understand that certain elements of the coronation would still need to be observed.

Will Charles be anointed to show that he is chosen by God? I have read that this symbolic element was important to the late Queen.

It should be slimmed down.

Even cutting it down to 6K invited guests are far too many.
I am a fan of the Royal family but I do not want to see it on every TV channel known to man repeating itself ad infinitum.

At least Charles is in favour of slimming it down.

I think a 'big' coronation would give a boost to the economy that might be desperately needed by next year. Just about everything needed to be purchased for the event will involve businesses of some kind or another and most of the money involved will end up being taxed back to the Treasury.

OTOH, I can see that it could be bad optics...

I'm on the fence...

Yes, I think it should, and will, be slimmed down. General slimming down has begun already and I think it will continue.

It should be massively slimmed down given the current financial crisis.

What would slimmed down look like? A quick trip to the Abbey and a cold collation at Buck House for salaried royals only? What? Who? When?

Silvergirl

It should be massively slimmed down given the current financial crisis.

You don't solve a financial crisis by passing up the business opportunities offered by a huge event like a coronation. We need to put money into the economy, not withhold it.

Didn't tory 'austerity' teach us anything?

Is there room for a small person on that fence MaizieD as that is exactly how I feel.

Yes, it should be slimmed down, with a less ostentatious show of wealth. I think there should be more focus on the purpose and meaning of ‘coronation’ and less focus on the tourist trade.

My own feeling is that a big coronation , following the grandeur of the Queen's death and funeral, would be anticlimactic.

Maisie makes a good case for a big coronation, however. Makes money.

Witzend

After the brilliantly organised funeral, I did wonder how, if such things can be so incredibly well organised here, how come too many other things are a shambles?

The late Queen’s funeral had been planned for the last decade at least, with regular updates. It couldn’t fail to be magnificent.

These big national shows are commercial products and I hope the clever economists and social scientists are able to estimate whether or not there will be a sufficient customer base for an expensive coronation.

I'm not sure that the Coronation will make money. I'm trying to think how. Lots of commemorative items. Well we could have those anyway, I think. Full hotels and hospitality in London? Anything else?

In early medieval Scotland the putative king had to climb Dunadd and put his foot in a stone footprint at the top. I'd pay to see Charles do that.

HMtQ was 25 at her Coronation - Charles will be 75 next year, perhaps this is a factor in a truncated Coronation

We don’t need a four hour ceremony that’s for sure.

I trust Charles to slim it down appropriately.

Where do you think that the money that is spent on it will go? It's not a bottomless pit or a big black hole. it will go to paying people or businesses.

Let's think.

Start with the military,;all those ruritanian uniforms have to be maintained, kept clean and polished. I doubt the military maintains its own dry cleaners, nor does it produce its own cleaning materials. The splendid horses have to be fed and shod, horseshoes don't materialise out of thin air, neither does feedstuff (as I know from experience!), someone somewhere supplies them for a price. Then there's the saddlery which has to be repaired and kept in a safe condition. Does the army have its own leather workers and where does the leather and thread come from?

Let's not get sniffy about souvenirs, they're all employment and a source of income for people and businesses (though I hate to say that it might mainly be Chinese people and businesses).

Hiring barriers, hiring toilets, hiring transport to bring in the extra police, security etc. Transport and catering for people coming into London to watch the spectacle, printing orders of service, clearing up afterwards...

I don't know the half of where the money goes, but be sure that it all goes somewhere and it will circulate in the economy and mostly come back to the Treasury via taxation. Because that's how an economy works.

But, as I say, despite this potential boost, the optics could work against it because people don't think it through.

I'd be interested to know just how much benefit to the economy there was from the Queen's obsequies.

On the other hand, I agree we could do without wall to wall media coverage of it...

Oh, this is good...

Start with the military,;all those ruritanian uniforms have to be maintained, kept clean and polished. After the Queen's funeral I was told that all the uniforms were used anyway, they didn't cost anything. Can't have it both ways. Same with the saddlery etc.

The splendid horses have to be fed and shod I would expect them to feed and shoe the horses anyway . Otherwise the RSPCA need to know about it.

The souvenirs could raise money if they were pictures of Charles in a gold coach or Charles on top of a hill with his foot in an indentation.

Hiring barriers, hiring toilets, hiring transport to bring in the extra police, security etc. Fair enough. Who's going to pay for the impacts of the policing that won't be done because they've all gone to London for the day?