The British celebrate King Charles III.

Thousands of people celebrated the newly crowned British royal couple on the grounds of Windsor Castle as part of a colorful light show with a large number of stars. King Charles III was in a good mood. and Queen Camilla in the “Royal Box”. In addition to numerous other personalities, the heir to the throne William with his wife Kate and their children George and Charlotte sat or stood in the grandstand.

A number of top musicians and bands, including Lionel Richie, Katy Perry, Andrea Bocelli and Take That, performed in front of the illuminated castle backdrop on Sunday evening. The stage with its catwalks was modeled on the British flag.

A special coronation chorus was assembled especially for the concert: the 300 performers singing together “Brighter Days” by Emile Sande included a fire brigade choir, a deaf choir and an all-female South Asian choir. For the first time there was also an interplay of five royal patronages: Royal Ballet, Royal Opera, Royal Shakespeare Company, Royal College of Music and Royal College of Art. They performed a mixture of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” and Leonard Bernstein’s musical “West Side Story”. ” on.

Half of the approximately 20,000 tickets were raffled among the population of the United Kingdom. People who have rendered special services to the community have also been invited.

parties everywhere

Hundreds of thousands of Brits had gathered for street parties and neighborhood picnics across the country. Members of the royal family also mingled with the revelers. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak hosted a banquet at Downing Street, attended by American First Lady Jill Biden and Ukrainian refugees, among others.

Buckingham Palace said the royal couple were “deeply moved” and deeply grateful to everyone who helped make the coronation celebrations such a “magnificent event”. These are said to have cost a total of more than 100 million pounds (around 114 million euros). At a time when many Brits are struggling with inflation and the rising cost of living, this also drew massive criticism.

wa/ust (dpa, afp)