I am indifferent to the Monarchy but AIBU to think it all feels very weird and drab?

[PipinwasAuntieMabelsdog]

Claire Balding's (love CB btw) is trying very hard to say how 'joyful' it feels and is a special day but it just doesn't seem like usual royal events to me. Just feels very flat. Maybe it's the greyish weather. AIBU?

The British Royal Family are the definition of Global Britain.

I do hope not. We are so much more than the optics of pomp and ceremony of a single family and besides which a lot of the power you ascribe was a function of the massive respect that the Queen and PP were held in over many decades of doing the 'job'. There can be no doubt that Charles and Camilla are debased currency in comparison. Not in my mind, anyway.

This is not a serious argument against my statement you singled out.

Additionally, you might like to think the soft power of the Royals is merely down to the late Queen Elizabeth II, but the reality is different and more complex than you suggest.

There is no doubt that Queen Elizabeth II was a deft political mover. Yet she wouldn't have had this platform were it not for the ongoing soft power of the British Royal Family which began before her birth. And continues afterwards.

It's not an either/or scenario, so you fell into the False Dilemma Fallacy there.

It’s around 22% are anti monarchy so yes, in the minority. They said it whilst broadcasting it. Did you fail to see the crowds.

Or perhaps the media want you to think that way.

I was there and there was FAR FAR FAR more protesters than portrayed in the media and everyone who was there was surprised by how thin the "crowds" were. I very easily managed to get into the front row just on the corner of The Mall and Trafalgar Sq

I can well believe it - during the carriage procession down Whitehall on the return you could clearly see folks running along to keep up with the carriage through a clear opening in the pavement. It was hardly packed. I can easily imagine every foreign tourist in town would be hanging around as well (who wouldn't) so as for native Brits who had made the effort it's anybodies guess. But unlike voting which now requires voter id the Crown will be quite happy to have camera fodder (even if they do leave an almighty mess behind) regardless of from where they came.

At the State Opening of Parliament last year there was hardly anyone - see for yourself. Despite crowd barriers being erected. At least in future events they can rely on the Republicans to turn up !

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Looks very sparse doesn’t it 😂😂😂😂

Where did they figures come from? I think it's changing and far more are anti monarch. Won't be long before these clowns sitting on huge stolen wealth and believe they are more divine than others are finally dismantled. Meanwhile we pay for a man who used a girl in a huge elite sex trafficking ring. Yuck

There were a few hundred protesters protesting against the king. There were millions watching around the world. The protesters who were arrested were not from not my king, but the Oil lot and another organisation.

As for the King not doing much for his country, he set up the Princes trust in his late 20s using his own naval pension. The Trust has helped 1 million deprived young people in the intervening years. That's more than any elected head of state would have achieved. This is alongside his other contributions and ideas, which were ahead of their time. Continuity does have its advantages

Sorry, but I have to laugh at that obsequious story about Charles using his navy pension to set up the Princes Trust, as if he didnt have any other pocket money, or twelve stately homes and estates, or trust funds, or income from the Duchies, or several Canelettos lying around, that he could have used! 🤔 OK so he cant sell paintings or buildings owned by the state but come on! Lets apply some critical thinking to that statement.

And I imagine there are lots of people like me who are firmly Republican in their views but because they are not in the first flush of youth did not go out and protest for fear of potential physical violence, but I would happily write to my MP or be grateful for the opportunity to vote in a referendum or follow debates on the radio. So I dont think that the number of protestors present is a very accurate assessment of Republican feeling, especially as crowd movements were highly restricted on the day and it looks now like the Met made arrests when they should not have done.

YouGov have some interesting polling on this…
https://yougov.co.uk/topics/society/articles-reports/2023/05/03/where-does-public-opinion-stand-monarchy-ahead-cor

According to that link: While 77% of Britons aged 65 and above say the monarchy is good for the country, just 32% of 18-24 year olds say the same.

I guess you potentially do become less of a Republican as you age, but that’s still quite a stark difference.

Maybe William’s will be the last Coronation… which TBF would make it a genuinely historic occasion!

i only just realised that not a single house where I live has put out bunting or pictures of Charles and Camilla in the windows. Not a single house. And this is a street Of royalists. C&C aren’t very popular, are they?”

Odd. Couldn't move for bunting, flags, C&C worship round here in this true blue, wealthy town in the south. What I did notice, conspicuous by their absence, was the complete lack of Tory posters in windows for the council elections.By comparison, think they're, understandably, far less popular than C&C.

Not odd at all

The demographic that still has majority support for the 'royals' is 65+, white , female , Tory , English

Polling suggests that is not what the people want.

There was even an increase in the view that the Monarchy is good for the UK as well. From 53% to 58%.

People feel King Charles is doing a good job too.

I’m not feeling too concerned things change - very quickly as is evident from that polling -it can go either way.

Interesting I always see being a Royalist as a working class pursuit.

@Novella4 evidence for that statement? Or are there a fair few 'isms' in it, starting with ageism?

It certainly contradicts both the evidence 'on the ground' on the day of the coronation itself, and the published evidence of many of the very recent polls, several cited on this thread already.

Is it ageist to report the fact that it's the 65+ age group who most strongly support the monarchy??
It's reflected in every poll and or paper / new report

It is possible to be working class and Tory you know !
I doubt we'd be in this mess if it wasn't

The gap between good for Britain and bad for Britain is pretty high.

Good for leads much more than bad

There’s a lot of bollocks being spouted on this thread. I was on the mall, it was at least 10-20 deep and they did indeed stop people coming in (and out) across the route so all very limited. I didn’t see one protestor but thousands of us stayed overnight, with many more arriving between 5 and 6am.

It shows most people understand that the Royal Family are and always have been a big part of UK soft power. We're second only to the USA.

And they can see the Royals are, on the whole, great ambassadors for the UK too.

There's a clear and considerable gulf between those who want a Monarch as Head Of State (62%) and those who want an elected Head Of State (25%).

This does NOT suggest it could "go either way" or that things will "change quickly" either.

Especially not when 58% of people believe the Monarchy is good for the UK compared to 15% who believe its bad for the UK.

These polls show the Monarchy is actually pretty resilient. More than some in this thread wish to acknowledge.

I know posters on here may not emulate this and be in a worse mood post Coronation (if possible!) but the uptick in good mood on YouGov shows it might be out of step with general feeling