King’s Coronation: Where to watch in London, from pubs to parks
Break out the bunting – it’s time to decide how you’ll be celebrating the King’s Coronation. Here are some tips, from long lunches to the pub
The Coronation is almost within touching distance, with just over a week until the biggest royal celebration since the Platinum Jubilee. If you haven’t nailed down your plans yet, here are some London goings-on.
LINING THE PROCESSION The classic is to take part in the Coronation by lining the streets where the procession is set to go. King Charles and the Queen Consort will go from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey by travelling down The Mall, through Admiralty Arch, past Trafalgar Square and then down Whitehall. They will leave the Abbey and return to the Palace in the iconic Gold State Coach, pulled by eight horses, in what’s known as the ‘Coronation Procession.’ It should go without saying, but you’ll need to turn up incredibly early to get a spot to watch. Avoid the main gathering points at Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey and join somewhere down the route, like halfway down Whitehall or The Mall, where crowds are likely to be thinner.
ROYAL PARKS The Royal Parks will have big screens showing the Coronation, should sitting in the park with a tinned gin and tonic be more appealing than standing by the side of the road. Screens will go up in Hyde Park, Green Park and St. James’s Park ahead of the Coronation service. The screens will be big enough to host the thousands who will come into the city at the weekend.
STREET PARTIES Covent Garden’s Seven Dials and Soho’s Carnaby Street will be hosting street parties, with roaming live bands, photo booths and restaurants opening out onto the streets. If you want to stay close to the City, the church of St Bartholomew the Great in Smithfield will be screening the ceremony and inviting attendees to participate as if they were invited to the event itself. Those south of the river might prefer to gaze upon the giant screens that will be popping up around Battersea Power Station, which will also have street party goings on including face painting and live music.
WATCH IT OVER FOOD City PM favourite M Restaurant in Canary Wharf will be hosting a special Coronation paw-ty, including a competition for the best-dressed King Charles… spaniel. Modern Indian restaurant Yaatra in Westminster is hosting a champagne reception on the morning of the coronation, followed by a five-course tasting menu and a bottomless bellini brunch. The London Cabaret Club’s Kings & Queens show at The Bloomsbury Ballroom celebrates with an “action packed” tour through the history of Britain’s kings and queens. Expect to meet Henry VIII, Queen Elizabeth I and Queen Victoria before the crowning of our very own King Charles. There’s an option to add a seven-course gourmet dinner, as well as dancing, music, acrobatics, magic, theatre and vintage costumes. Celebrate the King on the King’s Road in Chelsea. King’s House is screening the ceremony, which can be enjoyed as you eat a coronation brunch of breakfast classics and pancakes, washed down with a selection of royal-themed cocktails.
IN THE PUB Plenty of traditional pubs around central London will open early ahead of the Coronation, with the live television broadcast happening from 11am. But if you want to go somewhere more celebratory, a load of London restaurants are throwing parties in honour of the Coronation. Mr Fogg’s Tavern on St Martin’s Lane is throwing a party in their pub, with traditional real ales and old school punches. The pub feels like something out of the past if you fancy imagining what the Queen’s Coronation was like in the 1950s.
Rake’s Cafe -Bar within the Andaz Liverpool Street hotel is hosting a royal brunch on the 6th, starting at midday, an hour after the Coronation starts. For £55 you will get bottomless prosecco or upgrade to the Moet Champagne for £85 per head. The food’s yet to be announced but it’s likely it’ll be Coronation-themed. Sip Pimms and play croquet at rooftop bar Skylight Tobacco Dock, where the ceremony will be screened (without sound), and then watch the sun set over the London skyline – his Highness would approve. Bunga Bunga has a ‘Buff Brunch’ during the afternoon of the 6th, with free-flowing pink prosecco, a range of cheese and vegan pizza and a live cabaret show. (There’s an option with mocktails too.)
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