More Than 1,000 Anti-Monarchy Campaigners Set to Disrupt King Charles’ Coronation

The ceremony is set to cost the public around £100m. With a quarter of voters backing abolition of the monarchy, will the opposition get a hearing? Josiah Mortimer reports

Republican protesters will line the route of the King’s coronation ceremony in two weeks, in plans for the most significant anti-monarchy event in a generation.

Over 1,000 people are expected to gather in Trafalgar Square, and in a move designed to show a republican presence throughout the procession, smaller groups of one to three people will be stationed at numerous points along the route.

Graham Smith, Chief Executive of anti-monarchy group Republic, said: “This is the first time a big royal event has been directly covered by a larger protest. It will be very colourful and very loud.  We’ve not asked for permission, the plan is to just show up and protest.”

Republicans will wear yellow on the day, with yellow placards and flags – the colour of republicanism. Amid fears they will receive no coverage from the main broadcasters, they will make their presence known with megaphones and loudspeakers.

“The idea is that even if the BBC cameras pan away, they won’t be able to avoid hearing the protesters,” Smith said. Labour for a Republic’s Ken Ritchie added that the groups were having “arguments” with the BBC over “very one-sided coverage”.

“If we have 25% of voters saying we don’t want a monarchy, that’s quite a body of opinion that needs to be recognised by a national broadcaster. We’d be delighted if we got 10% of that,” Ritchie added.

Around 1,200 people have pledged to attend already, according to Republic. Protest organisers plan to base their activities on the day – by grim coincidence – near the statue of beheaded King Charles I, where protesters will wave their flags against Charles III.

Asked why they will be disrupting the coronation, Republic boss Smith said: “When people hear they’re spending £100m of our money on his parade, it annoys people. It’s a pointless parade. [King Charles] could have said ‘we’re not having a coronation’. Instead they’re doubling down on holy oil and all the rest.”

It comes as The Guardian reports that the King is a billionaire, with an estimated fortune of £1.8bn. Republican protest organisers plan to release more information on Friday. Several republican protesters were arrested last year, including one who held up a blank piece of paper (he was later released without charge).

A City Hall source said the Greater London Authority – which owns Trafalgar Square – was not aware of the planned protests or had any plans to accommodate protesters.

---

Republican revival?

Ken Ritchie, chair and co-founder of Labour for a Republic, told Byline Times that the main organisation, Republic, had a “bonanza” surrounding the Queen’s funeral last year. “Its fortunes rose rapidly,” he said.

Labour for a Republic’s much smaller membership has risen to around 200 (up from 50 before the Queen’s funeral) and a supporter list of 1,000.

The Labour party and leader Keir Starmer supports the monarchy. But Ritchie said: “We’re making inroads. What we feel is that there’s no chance that Labour is going to say it wants to get rid of the monarchy or even make a major challenge. So we’re focusing on things any reasonable member would agree with.”

The group recently made proposals to the party’s National Policy Forum to demand that the Equalities Act applies to the monarchy. It is currently exempt. “The staff it employs are not covered by anti-discrimination legislation. It’s a small point, but we felt that the principle of taking a stand should be a first step,” Ritchie said.

L4R is also focused on ensuring the monarchy is covered by Freedom of Information Act legislation, from which it is also exempt. A petition in Scotland called for this in recent weeks, but was dismissed by the Scottish Parliament this Wednesday. 

Few Labour MPs are on the record as republicans. Left-wingers Clive Lewis MP and Richard Burgon MP have publicly supported an end to the monarchy. While there are understood to be more, few speak out about it.

Ken Ritchie said: “There are people that we know are republicans. But they wouldn’t raise their heads and say so. Some are very supportive but always have another meeting on when we ask them to speak…”

Ex-Kensington Labour MP Emma Dent Coad made a joke in 2017 about Prince Harry, saying he “can’t actually fly a helicopter…he just sits there going ‘vroom vroom’.”

She said afterwards she was “slaughtered” by the press. “I was Queen of the May at the conference in 2017, after Grenfell. And then…I made [this] joke about Prince Harry not being very clever… I had to get police protection,” she told Byline Times.

“I was followed around all the next day, and I