British author shares thoughts on upcoming coronation of King Charles III

The coronation of King Charles III on Saturday will be the first one most people will ever witness, given that Queen Elizabeth II was crowned in 1953.

Mark Borkowski, a British PR agent, author and longtime observer of the Royal Family, told Gormley on Thursday there are huge expectations for the coronation. Borkowski said it’ll be a finely tuned event.

“This is what the (United Kingdom), in terms of spectacle, does best: Royal occasions,” he said. “The streets around London have been shut off for weeks. Nighttime, sort of, rehearsals have been going on.

“If we go back to the coronation of the Queen, it heralded in the incoming television. It was one of the events (that made) thousands of people (buy) black-and-white TVs. It was the first televised event beamed into the home.”

He added there’s also been a sense of unease around the coronation, adding polls have been showing younger people don’t really connect with the Royal Family.

“We’re going through a recession and there’s been a lot of debate. I’ve done a couple of radio spots this week with younger broadcasters who really just seem to think, ‘All this money spent on this, a man sitting on a seat being regaled with all this … pomp and circumstance,’ ” Borkowski said.

The author said people in the U.K. are reflecting on their heritage while the debate on whether the monarchy is still relevant rages on.

“The Royal Family and the institution has been battered over the last three or four years, putting aside the passing of the Queen,” Borkowski added. “There have been various little scandals … and Prince Harry … left the family to pursue the love of his life and they have totally different values.”

Borkowski said Prince Harry’s new book “Spare” is a visceral exposé of what the prince felt and he believed that book has a knock-on effect to the image of the Royal Family.

“I see this event as being very specific on what is very, very specific in terms of reminding everybody what is very powerful and what is good about that … pomp and circumstance and how important it is to retain the monarchy … as something that is a huge asset for this country across the world,” he added.

Borkowski shared there’s a muted atmosphere surrounding the upcoming coronation.

“I think this is simply because … the nation still in an understated way is mourning the passing of the Queen,” he said. “If we think of the crowd that (lined up) for hours and hours and hours, for days and days showing their respect to a passing monarch, the new monarch, Charles, in some ways has some very big boots to fill.”

In Regina, the coronation will be marked by a parade, a 21-gun salute and a Royal Canadian Air Force flyover of the Legislative Building on Friday at 1 p.m.