King Charles had fears over how many people would turn out to see his Coronation, it has been revealed. A four-year-old Charles attended his mother, Queen Elizabeth II’s Coronation in 1953, where millions of people lined the streets of London to see Her Majesty. More than 70 years later, royal fans and well-wishers lined the streets of the capital to congratulate King Charles on his Coronation.
But, memories of his mother’s celebrations sparked fears in Charles that the public wouldn’t support him on his big day.
Writing in the Daily Mail, royal expert Richard Kay claims the King once told a friend about the crowds: “Of course, they’ll never do that for me.”
On May 6, the King was proved wrong as royal fans camped out for days in the hope of catching of glimpse of His Majesty, even with the typical British weather.
Coronation day saw rain for the majority of the morning but people braved the miserable conditions.
The planned flypast by The Red Arrows even had to be scaled down from six minutes to just two and featured fewer aircraft than originally planned.
On top of those in London, the Coronation was watched by a peak audience of 20 million people in the UK.
On top of those in London, the Coronation was watched by a peak audience of 20 million people in the UK.
Around 14 million of those viewers tuned in to the BBC, 3.6 million watched ITV’s coverage and around 800,000 on Sky.
The Queen’s Coronation, which was the first to be televised brought in around 27 million viewers and 11 million on the radio, according to the Royal Family website.
Overall Charles chose to have a more scaled-down Coronation than that of his mother, including a smaller ceremony and procession.
The tour taken by the parade travelled 1.3 miles through central London, compared to a five-mile journey taken by Queen Elizabeth on the day of her Coronation.
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King Charles also chose to have only one member of the Royal Family pay homage, while Queen Elizabeth has Prince Philip followed by royal princes and five senior peers.
Kneeling before his father, Prince William swore his allegiance by reciting: “I, William, Prince of Wales, pledge my loyalty to you and faith and truth I will bear unto you, as your liege man of life and limb. So help me God.”
In a touching moment, the King appeared to thank his son as he kissed him on the cheek.
King Charles also chose to represent his so-called ‘slimmed down Monarchy’ at the Coronation with only senior working royals appearing on the Buckingham Palace balcony.
As heir to the throne the Prince and Princess of Wales led the Royal Family alongside the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh.
The Wales children were also on display as Prince George took on a poignant role as one of the eight Page of Honour while Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis sat front row during the ceremony.
The whole Royal Family were out in full force for the more relaxed Coronation Concert at Windsor Castle where several family members were spotted dancing and singing along to the likes of Lionel Richie, Katy Perry and Take That.
