Despite the wishes of the now-crowned King Charles III for a scaled-back coronation that was meant to be a part of his wider plans for a slimmed-down monarchy, his big coronation ceremony is still–despite the event’s marketability and the possibility for growth in some sectors–very expensive.
According to unofficial estimates (since no official costs are ever released by Buckingham Palace) the expense of the weekend’s proceedings–a “King’s procession” and a concert in Windsor Gardens–is likely to run to between £50 million and £100 million ($63-125 million), according to the BBC. That’s potentially more than the approximately £50 million in today’s money (or the £1.5 million at the time) that was spent when Queen Elizabeth II took the throne in 1953, when there was still such a thing as the British Empire. It’s also well above the equivalent £24.8 million, then just £450,000, that was spent on her father George VI’s coronation in 1937. Charles’s coronation has much more security, which has run up the finances relative to his predecessors. When it comes to the productivity hit the economy will take as a result of the public holiday, that figure is postulated to be as high £1.36 billion, or about $1.7 billion (this estimate comes with strings attached).
The UK’s economy isn’t exactly booming: according to the International Monetary Fund, Britain’s GDP is going to contract by .3% this year, which would be the worst performance for any developed economy in the world. Its GDP is 0.6% below its level of late-2019, and it is the only G-7 economy not to have recovered from the Covid-induced slump. Inflation remains stubbornly high with the rate rising 10.1% annually in March. Food and beverage costs rose at their sharpest clip in nearly years.
The British government, via the British tax base, is paying for a substantial amount of the cost, though 51% of Brits have said the coronation should not be funded by the government, according to a recent YouGov poll. The BBC has stated that some of the funding for the ceremony will also come from the Privy Purse, which is essentially the Royal Family’s private income. But the Sovereign Grant, or Britain’s “royal” tax, is likely to be the primary payment source.
Despite the costs, the event’s worldwide media attention and national importance is sure to be a source of revenue for British businesses. The research shows that London can expect an extra 30,595 overseas visitors during the Coronation fortnight, totaling 71,378 foreign tourists. All international visitors to London will spend an estimated £67,614,561 during the first half of May, while all 192,406 tourists in the capital will shell out an estimated £205,137,727 over the same period, providing a massive lift to the hospitality and tourism industries, for an estimated total of £205 million that could offset the disruption to business as a result of the holiday.
All told, the weekend, therefore, presents a great opportunity to capitalize on the enthusiasm for the coronation. What’s more, the event is a welcome and patriotic diversion from the current political and economic tension gripping the United Kingdom.
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