King Charles ‘looking grumpy’ ahead of coronation ceremony

King Charles looked “glum” at his Coronation, a royal author has claimed, adding that he will struggle to fill Queen Elizabeth II’s shoes.

More than 20 million Britons tuned in to watch Charles crowning at Westminster Abbey on May 6.

The day was full of regal splendour, with senior royals turning up in all their finery – and a 2,000 strong congregation singing powerful hymns to mark the historic occasion.

But there was one element that seemed out of place during the expertly choreographed event and that was King Charles himself, Clive Irving, author of The Last Queen, told Express.co.uk.

“King Charles looked glum, almost as if he didn’t want to be there,” the royal author said.

Irving compared the King’s performance to that of his late mother, Queen Elizabeth II.

“She just seemed to be the whole centre of it. She glowed. She was the focus. Charles didn’t even manage to be the focus of it,” he said.

The former Sunday Times editor added: “He seemed either tired, short-tempered or misplaced, as if he was uncomfortable with the whole idea of being there.”

In Irving’s estimation, the Queen had a quality of “mystique” that was once thought to be essential to the monarchy.

He said: “She also had a magic to her and I don’t see any mystique or magic to Charles.”

Irving added: “The monarchy cannot function if the person at the centre of it doesn’t look happy and doesn’t project a sense of confidence and a sureness of touch.”

The royal author found these qualities sorely lacking in the King’s performance on May 6.

The ceremony also attracted far fewer British viewers than his mother’s funeral last year.

The number of viewers peaked at 20.4 million just after midday when the King received his crown.

But the overall peak viewing figure was 9 million fewer than the number recorded for the Queen’s funeral, according to media reports, while the BBC audience was down about 5 million from the 20 million that tuned into BBC One for that service last September.

In 1953, more than 20 million people watched the late Queen being crowned, according to estimates based on surveys by the BBC at the time.

Charles’ Coronation viewing figures also fell short of those notched up at the wedding of his eldest son in 2011.

The wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton attracted a peak viewership of 20 million on the BBC, at the end of the ceremony in Westminster Abbey, according to the broadcaster.

The disappointing turnout comes after more than one-third of Britons (36 percent) say their opinion of the family has become more negative than it was 10 years ago.

Just 21 percent say their views on the Royal Family have gotten more positive over the past decade, with another 41 percent saying their overall opinion has stayed the same, the survey by polling company Savanta found.

And three in 10 say they have become less interested in news about the family over that time, while 22 percent say they have grown more interested.

Savanta interviewed 2,093 UK adults aged 18+ online between 24th and 26th March 2023. Data were weighted to be representative of the UK by age, sex, region, and social grade.

Follow our social media accounts here on facebook.com/ExpressUSNews and @expressusnews

Source: Read Full Article