Camping out on the Mall for the Coronation

[MissSueFlay]

So, my daughter and niece (10.5 and 11) are absolutely DESPERATE to camp out on the Mall for the Coronation. We took them to the Mall for the Jubilee last year and they absolutely loved it - we went early, but not early enough and were a couple of rows back. We had taken stools so they had a good view, but they really want to camp out for this one.

Has anyone done this before? I see that people do it, but are there rules about where you have to go or is it a bit of a free-for-all? I don't expect us to get any sleep at all, and we will be completely wrecked by the time it's over. But any tips (apart from the 'don't do it' one!)

If there's even a sniff of rain in the forecast, I've told them we're not doing it! 😆

I think I'm actually quite jealous

We did it, it was good fun, quite the experience for a couple of tweens We were about half-way down the Mall on the Green Park side, in the second row (got there Friday evening so had missed the front row ) but had a really excellent view and could see a big screen in St James's Park too. Camilla waved in our direction as they headed off to the Abbey, the King and Prince William waved at us on the way back, so ticked those boxes!

I'm glad I've done it - it was a good atmosphere mostly and we actually got more sleep than we expected - but I won't be rushing to do it again. For the last Jubilee we went down early in the morning, were at the back but standing on steps, so saw pretty much the same. Also, the people at the front became very territorial (not unreasonably) but were even stopping small children getting through to see, which I thought was a bit mean-spirited. The mood seems a bit lighter at the back as people aren't so invested!

Great memories

Aaw I want more detail!
Loos ?
Food and drink taken ?
Type of chair?
Tog of sleeping bag ?
Full description of clothing .

We had a fab time too, made lots of new friends and it was a great experience. Plenty of loos and food options which were open all night. Got there at 2pm on Friday and took a little tent. It was quite warm and although it rained for the procession, it was only light and didn’t damped spirits. Great fun and would do it again :)

@rileynexttime
There were lots of portaloos - the ones in St James's Park were open for the campers on that side (the ones that arrived before Friday morning all had to camp over there). The ones on the Green Park side opened at 10pm.

We just had unhealthy snacks with us but some people had brought substantial amounts of food! We were there for less than 24 hours so it was just fuel until we got home. There were some food & coffee vans on the Mall, and Tesco, M&S and Co-Op up at Trafalgar Square.

Chair - now this was where I was SO glad to have a really lightweight, foldaway chair with a high back. Some people spent the night sitting in those regular camping chairs with lower backs so they couldn't rest their heads. No idea how they slept, if they did. And then they had big folded up chairs to lug around... we had similar to the Azusa Ultra Light camping chair.

Three-season sleeping bag with a hood, and it was absolutely fine. It got quite cold at 2am but was fine in the bag.

We slept in what we wore to the Mall - jeans, T-shirt etc. I had my ultra-lite down gilet and coat and some cosy socks.
It was a lovely warm evening so that was fine, and then we had pack-a-macs for the constant drizzle from 10am...!

I was amazed at some of the kit people had brought, and I have no idea what they did with it all after (think tables, stoves!). I know a lot was abandoned on the Mall which is pretty wasteful, I saw several pop-up tents that had been left behind. I should have taken one...

thank you @MissSueFlay ! Thats more like it - that detail about the chair is what I'm here for

Thanks for coming back with updates @MissSueFlay. You actually make it sound rather easy! I went for a walk along the Mall on Friday evening (St James' Park side) and the tents were 2 or 3 rows deep and I assumed it was the same on the north side but it sounds like maybe it wasn't, or at least the south side had filled up with tents sooner.

Re toilets: did you go individually with one of your party staying with your belongings, or were your fellow-campers good natured about keeping an eye on your stuff and letting you back in to your spot?

I'm now eyeing up one of those high-backed camping chairs...