LONDON (Reuters) – People from across Britain and the world gathered on Saturday in central London for the coronation of King Charles III.
Here is a selection of quotes from those in the crowd:
Andy Mitchell, 63, a teacher from Farnham, Surrey:
“When you see everyone dressed up and taking part it is just fantastic. It makes you so proud. It is just incredible to be of part of this,” he said.
“My big concern is that younger people are losing interest in all of this and it won’t be the same in the future.”
Rachel Paisley, 45, a housewife, from Switzerland:
“It is a moment in history. We wanted to be here to see it and create some memories.”
Antonina Strain, 53, from Toronto Canada:
“Having been born in London, the opportunity to come back and celebrate and see the king being coronated is once in a lifetime,” she said.
“I couldn’t imagine the United Kingdom without a monarch. It’s ingrained into the soul of the country.”
Emily Jewell, 18:
“I think despite a lot of people’s views, we should be going and seeing an important part of our history in the UK because it is quite meaningful and it’s been a 1000-year tradition.”
Joy Davenport, 62, from Devon:
“This is a new era. I’m a green supporter and I’m very interested to see how he’s going to encourage green issues.”
Anna Reynolds, 26, a teacher, from Twickenham, London on Charles:
“We don’t love him, we don’t hate him, there is just no great affection,” she said. “I think if we had a choice, we would just skip a generation.”
William Stevens, 5:
“I want to see him getting his crown.”
Sam Mindenhall, 27, cafe worker from Bristol:
“I think a lot of the issues that he [King Charles] cares about are quite important. I think he’s trying to not democratise the monarchy but trying to do his best to sort of balance such a tradition with modern Britain and the modern world.
“He’s just trying to be more inclusive and bring more people into our nation, like the whole thing about wanting to be a defender of the faith, but defender of all faiths.”
(Reporting by Sarah Young; Editing by Alexandra Hudson and Angus MacSwan)
