Celebrating the coronation of King Charles III

ggouveia@westfairinc.com

The coronation of a British king is not only about tradition and ceremony; it’s also about pounds and pence. When King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla thereafter to be known as Queen Camilla are formally crowned at Westminster Abbey at 11 a.m. Saturday, May 6 (6 a.m. in New York), they will be at the heart of a production that is estimated to cost around £100 million (or $124.3 million). As the coronation is a state occasion and not a private-public affair like a royal wedding, the British government (that is, taxpayers) will be picking up a tab that is expected to be recouped by TV rights, to say nothing of tourism revenue.

Still, with one in five Britons living in poverty and mindful of the king’s wishes for a pared-down monarchy one that is also sensitive to a more multicultural, environmentally friendly United Kingdom the ceremony is slated to be less pomp and more circumstance.

It is nonetheless necessary to keep both the monarchy and the legacy of Queen Elizabeth II going, said Jon Robinson, manager of The Hamlet, a British store in Mount Kisco. https://www.wagmag.com/ the-stores-the-thing-at-the-hamlet/ As it did with Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee last year, The Hamlet will be hosting a celebration, this one from 2 to 4 p.m. May 6, featuring a rebroadcast of the coronation, snacks, drinks and related items, including flags, bunting, teacups and saucers, mugs and tea towels in fitting green and white for the environmental king; Coronation Tea; books for adults and children; and a poignant animated watercolor of the late queen handing the crown to Charles. For Robinson, the actual event will be a bittersweet moment.

“Bunch of feelings, very hard,” he said. “When the queen died, I thought, ‘She’s the only monarch I’ve known….’”

Like many Britons, Robinson’s family was touched by Queen Elizabeth II not once but twice. His mother, Carol Robinson, met her when she was in her 20s. Robinson’s mother would encounter the queen again with his sister, Jenny, when Jenny, who has Down Syndrome, took part in the Paralympics in London in 2012. They found the queen to be a lovely woman, he said.

“Those are big shoes to fill,” Robinson added. “I hope (the coronation) goes well. I wish him all the best.”

Robinson who hails from Southend-onSea in Essex in the south of England, not far from central London is one of more than 130,000 British expatriates living in the metro area. Many of them and other Anglophiles have made The Hamlet’s retail shop and online business such a success that the store is opening a pub two doors down on South Moger Avenue on the site of the former Billy’s Hair Salon in the fall. Named for the Lake District town that was home to Drew Hodgson who owns The Hamlet with wife Leigh The Ambleside will be a traditional British pub, right down to its dartboard, Robinson said, “a home away from home for the Brits.”

The Hamlet is not the only establishment that will be celebrating the coronation. The Roger Sherman Inn in New Canaan is holding a special coronation brunch and re-viewing at 11:30 a.m. Saturday, May 6. The inn, which went all out for the marriage of the king’s son Prince Harry to the former Meghan Markle, has even riffed on the exquisitely illuminated coronation invitation https:// www.rogershermaninn.com/events for its brunch invite to all.

For reservations, which are required, call 203-966-4545.

Those who wish to have a front-row seat from the comfort of their own beds should check local listings. However, The New York Times will be livestreaming the event and covering it from the perspectives of its business, culture, styles, travel and food desks at https:// www.nytco.com/press/ the-new-york-times-willlivestream-the-coronationof-king-charles-iii-as-partof-special-coverage

(Editor’s note: Though he makes his home now in Westfair country, Table and Travel Talk’s own Jeremy Wayne is an Englishman by birth and by heart. Recently, he had an extended stay in his native land and files this report:)

BY JEREMY WAYNE

The British love a knees-up, as they like to call a party, and there will have been no knees-ups in living memory quite as jolly as the national one due to take place on Saturday, May 6, to celebrate the coronation of His Majesty King Charles III.

All across London, from the swanky streets of Belgravia and Mayfair to genteel outer suburbs and gritty sink estates what the British call housing projects the capital is set to be en fête. Not just on the day of the coronation itself, but throughout the entire weekend, there will be street parties galore, singalongs in pubs, picnics in public parks, get-togethers in civic halls, gatherings in places of worship, bashes in civic halls and all manner of celebrations in hotels and restaurants.

Unlike their American cousins, the British are not usually a nation of flag-flyers. In London, on your average day, one flies over the Houses of Parliament, another over Buckingham Palace when the monarch is in residence. A handful of government buildings may also choose to fly the standard and fancy hotels like to hoist a flag. But that’s usually about it. The coronation, though, will change all that. I have been in London over the past four weeks as London’s streets have become swathed in Union Jacks, from buildings to shop windows to private terraces and front yards, and I can tell you this: The