With the Coronation of Charles coming up on May 6, Mancunian Matters took to the streets of Manchester to gauge public opinion.
Among the people we interviewed, we found that there was a range of emotions around Saturday’s historic event.
One of the more supportive people we heard from was Jackie Bayers, who was visiting Manchester for the day from Warwickshire.
While her plans to watch the coronation at home on the television are low-key, she will be hitting the drinks with her friends the night before, including some English sparkling wine.
On Charles and the monarchy, she said: “I think he’s been quite good recently. To be honest, I’ve always thought he was very good as a person, so I think as a king he’s going to be the best that he can in his way and be a lot more modern.
“I’m not exactly a monarchist but I support the monarchy because it’s better than anything else that we could potentially have. I think it will dwindle a bit but still be there.”
At the opposite end of the spectrum, we heard from Ian Ross, who lives in Whalley Range.
Ian did not share Jackie’s upbeat mood about the upcoming Coronation.
He said: “I’m not interested in it. I don’t think Charles is fit to be king. Having got married, had children, and then got divorced, I think that takes him out of the range of being head of the church and head of the country. Bad role model.
“I think most people couldn’t care less [about the coronation].”
Meanwhile, Miriam Waters thought King Charles will have a restricted reign: “I think he will be a puppet. I think he could have done more but now he’s very old. It’s a pity.”
Nathan Smallwood, a 20-year-old man from Salford, felt that there were more important things going on to get wrapped up in the celebrations.
He said: “I don’t have any plans for the coronation … just not to watch it!
“I think the monarchy is a waste of money personally, but if it makes other people happy, then we’ll have to live and make do for now.
“I don’t keep too up to date with the family politics. We’ve all got our own to be dealing with – I’m not bothered about Windsor. “
Featured image: Jackie Bayers by Nik Anand.
