Estimates put the cost of King Charles coronation at between £50 million and £100 million ($63-125 million).
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LONDON — The eyes of the world will be on the U.K. this weekend as King Charles III is crowned at Westminster Abbey in a quintessentially British display of pomp and pageantry.
The coronation, which will be conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury on Saturday May 6, will kickstart three days of celebrations across London and the wider U.K., culminating in a public holiday on May 8.
The service — the first of its kind in 70 years — is largely ceremonial, following the 74-year-old king’s official accession to the throne on September 8, 2022, the day of Queen Elizabeth II’s death.
But while millions are expected to observe the historic occasion, it falls against a challenging economic backdrop for the U.K, with many questioning the validity of the event as the country faces its worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation.
How much will the coronation cost?
Buckingham Palace does not provide an exact figure for the cost of the coronation, nor did it respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
However, King Charles himself is said to have sought a more scaled-back celebration, with a “shorter,” “smaller, less expensive and more representative” ceremony — part of his wider plans for a slimmed down monarchy.
A member of the Royal Household works on the Chair of Estate for Britain’s King Charles III at Frogmore Workshops in Windsor, west of London, on April 21, 2023, ahead of the coronation of Britain’s King Charles III and the Britain’s Camilla, Queen Consort on May 6.
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The Westminster Abbey ceremony, for instance, will be attended by some 2,000 VIP guests — around a quarter of the number present at the late queen’s coronation — and the process will last around one hour, rather than several.
Still, the expense of the weekend’s proceedings — which include a “King’s procession” and a star-studded…
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