(LONDON) In a ceremony steeped in millennia of tradition and pageantry, King Charles III has crowned monarch of the United Kingdom of Britain and Northern Ireland on Saturday.
After the Archbishop of Canterbury placed the crown on Charles’ head at Westminster Abbey, shouts of “God Save the King!” were heard, and trumpets blared. After the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, on September 8, 2013, Charles ascended the throne eight months ago.
In spite of heavy rain, crowds lining the roads cheered on Charles, 74, and Queen Camilla, 75, as they returned to Buckingham Palace. On the balcony of the palace, the couple, Prince William and Kate, Princess of Wales, and their three children greeted the flag-waving crowd below them shortly afterward.
In the early hours of Saturday, 25 anti-monarchy activists and other protesters were arrested, but not everyone is a fan of King Charles and the royal family. In modern Britain, the opulence of the royals is a bad-taste contrast to what’s really going on: Economic hardship.
