How do we feel about the monarchy in 2023? It’s complicated

King Charles III

Credit: Getty Images

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How do we feel about the monarchy in 2023? It’s complicated

By Stylist Team

2 years ago

9 min read

Some people are excited about King Charles III’s coronation. Some couldn’t care less. And others fall somewhere in between. Ahead of the main event, Stylist hears from four women about where they stand on the King and the monarchy as an institution. 


On 2 June 1953, Queen Elizabeth II was transported through London in a golden horse-drawn carriage dripping in diamonds. The day’s unexpectedly heavy rain couldn’t dampen the excitement in the air, as millions of people – many of whom had camped out in the capital overnight – lined the pavements to catch a glimpse of the new monarch. Street parties were in full swing across the nation, and people crowded into pubs and living rooms to watch the ceremony; the 27-year-old Queen had agreed that her coronation be televised in a push towards modernity, prompting a surge in TV sales.

It’s estimated that 27 million people tuned in to watch her being crowned on the BBC, while 11 million listened to the coronation on the radio. Britain’s population at the time stood at just over 36 million, which shows just how enthusiastic the nation was about its new monarch. “The coronation was like a phoenix time,” the Queen’s younger sister Princess Margaret would recall years later, conjuring up an image of a country soaring out of the ashes of the Second World War. “[There was] nothing to stop everything getting better and better.”

Seventy years later, the mood around King Charles III’s coronation feels much more muted. The King is sure to be met by cheering crowds when he travels from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey on Saturday 6 May, and around 20,000 people are expected to attend the Coronation Concert at Windsor Castle (where acts including Katy Perry, Lionel Ritchie and Take That are set to perform). But beyond royal superfans and people who want to be able to say ‘I was there’, many of us aren’t particularly fussed about the coronation. Responding to a YouGov survey earlier this month, almost two-thirds of Brits said they didn’t care “very much” or “at all” about the crowning of the new king.

This might reflect how people feel about King Charles III (at the time of writing, he ranks lower in favourability ratings than the Prince and Princess of Wales and his sister Princess Anne). But it also speaks to a general sense of ambivalence: most (41%) of Stylist readers we polled say they have “mixed feelings” about the coronation, compared to 30% who feel positively and 29% who view it negatively. According to another survey by YouGov and the BBC, a solid majority (58%) of UK adults simply aren’t interested in the royal family. Gen Z is particularly unconvinced by the institution, with less than a third (32%) of those aged 18-24 believing that the monarchy should continue at all. We remain a largely pro-monarchy nation, but it’s clear that we’re no longer entirely enraptured by our royals. For many, the coronation is mostly a cause for celebration because of the extra bank holiday it comes with.

But not everyone is a staunch republican or proudly pro-royalty; between those positions, there are countless nuanced perspectives. Below, Stylist hears from four women about where they stand on the coronation, the King and the monarchy as an institution. 

Katherine Elizabeth, milliner: “The royals are doing the best with the time they’ve got, not lording it over us”

I’ve always worked for myself and been entrepreneurial – I dislike having people tell me what to do. But I see the monarchy differently. We’re not in the time when kings would chop off your head for saying or doing something – when they were completely in control. I think that now the monarchy is really good for the country. Some people say that they use our money, but I believe they bring in so much in with all the tourism, and they’ve helped so many charities – they’re doing the best with the time they’ve got, not lording it over us and telling us what to do. They bring positivity to our society and spend a lot of time trying to help it.

I’ll be watching the coronation, looking out for all the fashion and the hats. In my shop, we’ll put bunting out, maybe some balloons, and whenever customers come in, I’ll give them a glass of champagne. It’s probably going to be scaled down from Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation, but it will still be a fantastic spectacle to see. There are issues with the economy at the moment, and I am mindful of that, but this is also going to make people feel happy and it’ll help the businesses in London with the number of people that will be coming in for the occasion.

Courtesy of Katherine Elizabeth Millinery

Credit: Courtesy of Katherine Elizabeth Millinery

After university, I wanted to set up my own millinery business, Katherine Elizabeth Millinery. I had mentoring from the Prince’s Trust, which was really good at boosting self-esteem, then I went up in front of a board of people to get funding (it was really scary, but you get help with that). The bank matched the money I got from the Trust, so I had enough to buy millinery blocks, sinamays (hat-making material) and my first computer to start with. I don’t know if there would have been any other programme for a young person that would have given me mentoring, support and money.

Queen Elizabeth II at her coronation in 1953

Credit: Getty

Miranda Larbi, Stylists Strong Women editor: “We’re better off with someone like Charles than in a republic led by a politician”

As a mixed-race woman, the only person connected to the royal family I’ve cared about is Meghan. Her treatment really made me think that my grandparents had been right: abolish the lot of them. But in recent times, I’ve had to concede that we’re better off with someone like Charles in place than living in a republic led by a politician, à la France. Imagine if the top representative for the UK was… Boris Johnson. You’d never be able to hold your head up abroad again.

Charles, at least, has been a life-long advocate for the environment – something he stuck his neck out for when PM Rishi Sunak suggested that he might be too busy to go to the COP summit earlier this year. And while undoubtedly privileged, he’s done plenty of useful things for ordinary kids. During sixth form, I was lucky enough to experience the life-changing opportunities afforded to inner city kids by the Prince’s Trust – without which, I’d have never got into the uni of my choice.

Imagine if the top representative for the UK was… Boris Johnson. You’d never be able to hold your head up abroad again

My parish church is currently trying to organise a knees-up for the coronation weekend and is expecting hundreds of local families – many of whom won’t be CoE. It’s just an excuse to bring folk together and with loneliness at an all-time high post-pandemic, who wouldn’t be in favour of that? Perhaps we should all stop being so bloody miserable and raise a toast to new beginnings.

Moya Crockett, freelance editor and writer: “My overwhelming feeling is apathy and indifference, rather than outrage or anger”

One of my clearest early memories revolves around indifference towards the royals. I was five, and Princess Diana’s funeral was on TV. I stood transfixed by the sight of people sobbing on the streets of London, before running from the room and bursting into tears myself, overwhelmed by the sight of so much grief. When my (staunchly republican) dad found me crying on the stairs, he was unimpressed. Had I known Princess Diana personally, he asked? I had not. “Well, then,” he replied. “You’ve got nothing to cry about, have you?” No daughter of his was going to be indoctrinated into an emotional attachment to the monarchy.

As an adult, I can’t say I’m immune to the celebrity pull of the royals (when I was travelling in Canada in 2011, I got up at stupid o’clock to watch live coverage of Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding). In theory, though, I’m politically opposed to everything the monarchy represents. I’d much rather live in a country where public money doesn’t go towards funding the lavish lives of the aristocracy – particularly when one in five people in the UK live in poverty – and I’m unmoved by the ‘they’re good for tourism’ argument (visitors flock to Versailles, and the French bumped off their monarchy in 1792).

I’d much rather live in a country where public money doesn’t go towards funding the lives of the aristocracy

So no, I won’t be watching the coronation on 8 May with flag in hand. But somehow, I simply can’t summon up the energy to get het up about King Charles III – not when the government is pushing through a bill that will extinguish the right to seek refugee protection in the UK, and my electricity bill last month was literally 300% more expensive than it was last summer. Many would argue these things are all connected: related parts of a society that provides for those at the top while clinging to a fantasy vision of a great British past. But my overwhelming feeling is one of apathy and indifference, rather than outrage or anger. I know the royal family aren’t bees; ignoring them won’t make them go away. But for now, that’s the only response I can muster.

Ronke Lawal, founder of Ariatu PR: “Much of the British royal family’s wealth was built on the subjugation of people from Commonwealth nations”

I am not a royalist. I do not believe that any one family or person should have absolute power over the masses. But there’s more to it than power. We elect powerful leaders all the time – we choose them. We celebrate key people of influence whose perceived power is through their influence. However, for me, the royal family is synonymous with empire; it IS the empire.

There is no getting away from the historical facts surrounding how much of the wealth accumulated by the British royal family was built on the subjugation of people from nations which now make up the so-called Commonwealth – a wealth which as we know is not common for all. The resources, land and human labour that built the Empire are embedded into the fabric of the monarchy and this has never truly been atoned for. The blood of my ancestors and their riches were brutally extracted without any true acknowledgement of the impact that this has had.

How does one navigate this when one comes from a community which for the most part is pro-monarchy? I continue to amplify the truths around the monarchy, and I sometimes consume it as a form of entertainment through their weddings or Netflix’s The Crown.  For me, the coronation is just another opportunity to view some gowns and perhaps have fun engaging with my Twitter timeline, but that is where it ends with me. 


Images: Getty

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