Support for the monarchy is still strong among older people, but the new King may struggle to win over the younger generation. Photo: King Charles III Facebook.
Millions of people in the UK and around the world will be tuning in to watch the King’s coronation on Saturday, but I won’t be one of them.
Like a growing number of young British people, I’m not remotely interested in the royal family, and the elaborate display of wealth feels jarring when many of us are struggling more than ever.
I accept it’s a significant historic occasion, but it just doesn’t appeal to me. I’ve let two royal weddings, two jubilees and a funeral go by over the past decade or so without watching the coverage, and I don’t feel like I’ve missed out on much. And I didn’t get any further than one episode of The Crown.
It’s not just me losing interest.
A YouGov survey suggest most younger people in the UK probably won’t be watching the coronation with more than half of under-50s not very likely or not at all likely to tune in.
It also says a lot that several big names turned down the opportunity to perform over the coronation weekend, with some citing scheduling issues but others declining to comment on why they couldn’t make it.
It hasn’t been confirmed, but the coronation is expected to cost the taxpayer as much as £100 million. While The Times called King Charles “famously frugal” and said the event would be “slimmed down” with fewer guests and a shorter ceremony, I can’t help thinking more effort could have been made to show this so-called frugality at a time when more and more people are struggling to keep up with rising living costs.
Understandably, the lavish event will bring some benefit to the UK economy by drawing in tourists from around the world. Still, London hotel occupancy rates – so far – are only about 67 per cent for the coronation weekend.
But there are plenty of other events bringing people to the UK. Liverpool hotels have an occupancy rate of 82 per cent for the Eurovision final just a week later, for example – another event partly funded by the taxpayer and one that is likely to see a much bigger turnout of young people.
Some sections of the UK media were shocked to discover that £10 million in British income tax will go towards hosting Eurovision (along with some BBC funding and funds from the local Merseyside council), with a GB News headline asking, “Why are we paying for this bull****!?” (to quote a furious Twitter user).
At the same time, that outlet remains in full support of a certain other event happening a week earlier with a much bigger budget. This doesn’t make much sense to me, to be honest.
Eurovision aside, public support for the monarchy is lower than ever in the UK, according to a poll conducted a few days ago by the National Centre for Social Research. A record low of 29 per cent of people surveyed earlier this year said they saw the monarchy as ‘very important’. This figure was even lower among those aged 18 to 34, at only 12 per cent.
While there isn’t overwhelming support for a republic just yet – just over half of respondents were either very or quite in favour of the monarchy, it seems like the tide is turning and there’s the possibility that our new King won’t be able to rely on the public’s support in the future. This is especially true if the big events that previously drew people in can’t capture our interest anymore.
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