The King's coronation wouldn't be the same without the most famous street in Britain joining in the celebrations. And the historic occasion was the talk of the Coronation Street cobbles in Bank Holiday Monday's episode after the crowning at Westminster Abbey on Saturday of King Charles III and his wife Queen Camilla.
According to the soap's backstory Coronation Street, a terraced street set in the fictional town of Weatherfield in Salford, was built in 1902 and named after the coronation of King Edward VII, King Charles' great-great-grandfather. But as the iconic Rovers Return was festooned in red, white and blue with a buffet fit for a king, not everyone was impressed.
As barmaid Daisy Midgely popped round to see her friend Ryan Connor ahead of the party, he sniped: "I won't stand in the way of you having a good time celebrating our outdated institution."
READ MORE: Join the FREE Manchester Evening News WhatsApp community
And she defended: "Oh come on, I like that Camilla, I reckon she's a right laugh down the pub." And Ryan joked about his friend from Grasmere Drive: "I always think it's Audrey Roberts when she comes on the telly." He added with another dig: "You go and have a good time, you massive royalist."
Over in the Rovers, landlady Jenny was proudly showing off her prawn ring to the punters. But she was concerned that it wasn't defrosted enough and wondered if she should put it next to the radiator.
The celebrations prompted Mary Taylor to regale her neighbours about the time her mother queued for the royal wedding in 1981 for a glimpse of the King, then Prince Charles, when he married his late ex wife Diana. "She went on the coach from Monton," she recalled. And Debbie Webster recalled drily: "I had a bikini wax there once."
By the time Mary was likening herself to the Princess of Wales, Kate Middleton, saying "maybe it's the hair, I don't know", curmudgeonly Evelyn Plummer had heard enough. "I've had enough of this, I can't put up with this any longer," she said, before helping herself to more buffet on her way out.
Later she was back in the beloved boozer as Jenny decided that they should have a minute silence for the passing of the Queen. And Evelyn witheringly pointed out that she had been silent, enjoying the food on offer, until Jenny had piped up. It was Coronation Street at it's witty best.
READ NEXT:
