Up to 100,000 are expected to head to Hyde Park to mark the King’s coronation, event organisers have revealed.
Preparations are also being made for thousands of people to line the procession route along The Mall to watch Charles and Camilla travel between Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey.
The numbers drawn to central London are expected to exceed the thousands who attended the Queen’s platinum jubilee celebrations last June.
Organisers are planning for 50,000 people to watch the coronation on Saturday May 6 on giant screens erected on either side of the Serpentine lake in Hyde Park.
A similar number is expected to party in the park the following evening when the Coronation Concert — rumoured to feature Sir Paul McCartney, Take That and Lionel Richie — will be beamed live from Windsor Castle.
Green Park and St James’s Park are expected to be extremely crowded on coronation day. Screens will be erected in both royal parks and on Horse Guards Parade for those unable to catch a glimpse of the military procession.
Westminster council’s licensing committee approved the plans yesterday after the Government’s chief organiser Jon Martin, from the Department of Culture, told councillors: “This is truly an exceptional application and, for once, that is no exaggeration.”
Latest details to emerge include an RAF flypast — for the newly-crowned King’s appearance on the palace balcony with the royal family — and widespread road closures in central London during the bank holiday weekend, making it “challenging” for residents to get around. Transport for London is due to publish travel advice next week.
The plans include late-night food and drink stalls in Green Park and St James’s Park, offering tea, coffee and bacon sandwiches, to cater for those who arrive on Friday night and camp out to secure a prime position.
No alcohol will be on sale at this point. “It’s quite literally a welfare provision,” Mr Martin told the committee. “I cannot say how many people will come in the late hours. I suspect in the early morning there will be quite some numbers.”
However there will be stalls selling Pimm’s and gin from 10am until 10pm on Saturday and from 4pm to 10pm on Sunday, including in Hyde Park. Ice cream and churros will also be available.
A “very significant police presence”, to ensure security along the route, would be on hand in the event of any drunkenness, Mr Martin said.
The BBC will start its live coverage at 7.30am on Saturday. The RAF flypast is expected at around 2.45pm.
Hyde Park will not be ticketed. Grandstands near Buckingham Palace and Admiralty Arch will be reserved for military veterans, cadets and key workers.
The Coronation Concert will feature “music icons and contemporary stars”, starting at 8.30pm and running for 90 minutes. It will have a live audience of 20,000 — half of which are Britons who won free tickets in a ballot.
The other tickets have been given to charities supported by Charles and Camilla. The concert will feature the Countess of Wessex String Orchestra and the Bands of the Household Division.
According to the BBC, they will play interpretations of “musical favourites… fronted by some of the biggest entertainers from the worlds of pop, opera, and soul music”.
The concert will also feature the Coronation Choir, created from community choirs and amateur singers.
The centrepiece will be a section called Lighting up the Nation, when landmark locations are lit using projections, lasers and drone displays. Identity, the firm that organised London’s New Year’s Eve fireworks and the Pride parade, will manage the event.
Westminster’s licensing committee chairwoman Iman Less said: “These are not only extraordinary events but an important moment in history.”
