The bells of St James’s Church in Clerkenwell, central London, pealed for an hour from noon on Sunday, to mark continuing celebrations for the coronation of King Charles III the day before. The church is opposite the aptly named Three Kings pub, whose proprietors must be hoping King Charles III will pay them a visit at some point.
Sunday is all about local community events, and many of the 250-member congregation of this Anglican church had shown up for a special service, followed by a communal lunch and outdoor activities.
“Our congregation comes from six continents,” Mary Haile, an outreach minister, said. Haile came to Britain from Ethiopia three years ago, to work as a missionary.
“I’m not a king yet,” Princely Cross joked as he gave his name, while eating lunch at one of the long tables in the church’s large crypt. One table was loaded with the food the congregation had brought to share: meatballs, roasted vegetables, jollof rice with chicken, various salads. Cross is “Ceylon-born”, as he says, and came to Britain 22 years ago.
Cross watched the coronation on television on Saturday. “The King is a servant of God, and his duty is to serve God. A very expensive servant,” he added. “He is very rich. I don’t know where all the money comes from, but as a servant, maybe he should donate some of his wealth to charity.”
Elizabeth Emmanuel, who works for the NHS, was reclaiming a glass dish she brought to the lunch. “The royal family are a sign of authority in our society. They are like a nice family we can all look up to. Yes, there are some divisions among them, but what family is not dysfunctional? It’s good to know that people supposed to be the elite in our society still have problems, like ordinary people like us do.”
In the large, sunny garden outside, there were home-made cakes on offer, two bouncy castles, swing dancing, games of ad hoc football, and a free book stall.
Linda Berry was presiding over the book stall. Among the titles on offer were The Jesus Puzzle Book, Personal Evangelism, and various Harry Potters. Many of the religious-themed books had come from a shelf she cleared at home last week.
“I love the royal family,” she declared. “Especially Kate and William. I think Kate does very well, for someone not born royal. She is very classy. You wouldn’t think she was born a commoner.”
Berry says she took the oath of allegiance to the king during the ceremony on Saturday. “I didn’t say it out loud, but he does have my allegiance.”
Mounia El Khawand, from Lebanon, had just left the bookstall with a copy of Dante’s Inferno. She and Alexander Bassetti, from Venice, had both watched the coronation on big screens at Hyde Park. They are doing a one-year Masters in International Relations at the London School of Economics.
“The monarchy has so much soft power,” El Khawand said. “Just look at all the heads of state and dignitaries who were there yesterday.”
“All the Italian news channels were running nonstop coverage of the coronation yesterday,” Bassetti said. “They would never do that for any other royal family.”
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“The British royal family are by far the most famous of all the royal families,” El Khawand said. “Look at their Instagram account. They are @theroyalfamily. Not @britishroyalfamily. I think if the British monarchy has a role in the future, it is in using their soft diplomatic power.”
At the Guess the Royal picture quiz, Matthew Batty was watching as his daughter Jorjie (8) wrote down the answers.
“It upsets me when people criticise the monarchy,” he said. “They are part of our history.”
Among the royals featured in the picture quiz were Prince William, Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth. Anne Boleyn’s identity was posing a puzzle to most people, including Jorjie and her father.
“Someone from way, way back, anyway,” was the general consensus.
