London (CNN) More than 20 million people in the United Kingdom tuned in to watch Coronation of King Charles III Saturday, but the ceremony attracted far fewer British visitors than her mother’s funeral rites Last year.
Average viewing figures for the two-hour service at Westminster Abbey – the main part of Saturday’s ceremony where the King is crowned – reached 18.8 million, according to data provided by the UK Broadcasters Audience Research Board (Barb).
The rainy day began with King Charles III and Queen Camilla traveling from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey. The couple rode in a Diamond Jubilee state coach drawn by six horses. The coach was built in 2012 to commemorate the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign.
According to Barb, which surveyed viewership across 11 television channels and services, viewers jumped to 20.4 million the afternoon after the king received his crown.
According to figures released by the UK public broadcaster, the BBC took the biggest share of the audience, rising to 15 million on its BBC One and Two channels.
But the overall peak figure was 9 million less than the number recorded for Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral, according to UK media reports, with BBC viewers down around 5 million from the 20 million who tuned in on BBC One for that service last September.
In 1953, more than 20 million people watched the coronation of the late Queen. Investigations by the BBC At the time. Cameras were installed in Westminster Abbey for the first time to cover the coronation BBC reported As the UK’s first mass televised event.
Charles III’s coronation also fared better than his eldest son’s wedding in 2011. The wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton attracted 20 million viewers on the BBC, according to the broadcaster, after the ceremony at Westminster Abbey.
Foreign dignitaries, British officials, celebrities and faith leaders gathered at the abbey for Saturday’s coronation. However, the congregation of 2,300 was much smaller than it had been in 1953, when temporary structures were erected to house more than 8,000 people.
Following the service, 4,000 armed forces personnel, accompanied by 19 bands, took part in the largest UK military parade for 70 years, cheered on by thousands of spectators.
Some were anti-monarchy demonstrators turned into resistance Coronation on Saturday. London’s Metropolitan Police said they had arrested a total of 64 people on Saturday for various offences, including “conspiracy to cause public nuisance” and “breaching the peace”. A criminal case has been registered against four of those arrested.
The Republic, Britain’s largest anti-monarchy group, told CNN on Saturday that police had arrested organizers of the protest without reason. The group said in a tweet on Monday that the “protest was curtailed to protect the image of the king” and that the arrests were “an absolute disgrace”.
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– Duarte Mendonca contributed reporting.
