Kate Hawkesby: Can King Charles maintain a monarchy that’s modern and current?

Well today has noticeably ramped up another notch in coronation preparations. More roads closed, more barricades up, more Cops around, and way, way more people. The Palace garden party was on today, so attendees were out in their finery and even the weather played ball with a beautiful and rare blue sky day. Many, who at the start of this week were a bit ho hum, seem now to be getting excited. I was speaking with one woman whose kids insisted she drag them round all the festivities to see what’s in store for the celebrations ‘for our King’, as she put it. She said they weren’t really royalists and felt indifferent about the monarchy, but she said when it came to events like an historic coronation, how could you not be part of it all? She said it’s part and parcel of being British. On the day however, given how busy London already is, she said she’d stay home and ‘watch it on the telly’, which she argued would be a better view anyway, and she’s probably right. But there’s something magical about being here and soaking up the festive vibes, and it’s part of what I love about England; how into it they get. They love a good knees up. They love their bunting, they love their Bank holidays, even if they don’t even love the royals that much. The TV news channels here are all about polls on the monarchy. A recent YouGov one showed 58 percent of Brits still want a monarchy, and just 26 percent say they’d prefer a head of state. There’s ongoing criticism of royal spending of course – when asked if the monarchy was good value for money – 54 percent said yes, 32 percent said no. In young people that stat was higher of course, of 18 to 24 year olds, 40 percent thought the monarchy was a waste of money. The royals are under constant criticism in that regard; from private jet use, to security costs, to living expenses. Royal trustees are currently carrying out a five year review of the sovereign grant and the monarchy already has fewer working royals. Harry and Meghan choosing to leave of course, and Prince Andrew being shown the door. But questions remain about how much more Charles can trim it all down. And even then, will it enthuse Gen Zed’ers into the royal fold? With Charles being 74, most of his support base is 65 plus, and you’ve got an increasingly royally disengaged youth. ‘Nearly four in ten Gen Zed’ers support abolishing the monarchy,’ according to that YouGov poll, just ‘a third of 18 to 24-year-olds back the Crown’. Another question pollsters asked was whether people thought Charles was in touch with the British public. 36 percent said yes he was, 45 percent said no. Looking like you’re in touch helps, and they’re relying very much on the younger royals as in Wills and Kate, to do that.  But at the end of the day, Brits by and large seem to love the pageantry around all this stuff. News channels here were reporting on the huge volumes of bunting people had ordered through the post to hang in their homes. But while this may be a festive, celebratory and ceremonially significant week for the monarchy, it’s very much how it plays out from here that matters. Whether King Charles can maintain a monarchy that’s modern and current, and justifiable in the eyes of the British public, is all ahead of him long after the bunting and the flags have been taken down and packed away.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.