When King Charles and Queen Camilla are crowned this weekend, they will be watched by thousands inside Westminster Abbey and on many millions of televisions around the world.
BBC One, BBC Two, ITV, and Sky are all covering the event live on Saturday, May 6, and the BBC has deemed the event 'of national importance' and has issued a one-off dispensation to allow people to watch the event without a TV licence in certain circumstances.
However, there are strict rules covering the dispensation - and they don't cover watching the event in your own front room.
Read more: King Charles coronation - running times and how to watch
This dispensation covers the Coronation on Saturday and the coronation concert on Sunday and allows community events to be organised in venues where TV is not usually watched to screen live programmes throughout the weekend without a licence. So, for example, community events organised in churches, town halls, community centres, libraries and street parties.
Commercial premises acting as community venues for the event, such as concert halls, performing arts venues, cinemas and shops are also covered by the dispensation, which also allows outdoor venues with screens to broadcast, as long as there is no charge to watch.
A BBC spokesperson said: "BBC coverage should be free to watch, so please don’t charge anyone for the viewing. Even if your screening is taking place at a venue which normally has a commercial purpose you must not charge for tickets, and the public should be allowed to bring their own food and drink."
To be covered by the dispensation, the TV must be:
- Used solely to screen the coronation or the coronation concert
- Used in a community setting
- Normally used on a property that is already covered by a TV Licence. It is the address that is licensed rather than the TV set, so you would usually need a licence even if you were using your own TV away from home..
But if you are planning on watching the coronation at home with family or friends, you will need a licence to do so. Private viewing is not covered by the dispensation.
You will always need a licence if you want to do the following, and the coronation is no exception:
- Watch or record live TV on any channel via any TV service. Broadcasters such as Sky, Virgin, Freeview, Freesat are all included in this, not just terrestrial channels and not just the BBC.
- Watch live on streaming services such as ITVX, Channel 4, YouTube, Amazon Prime Video, Now, Sky Go
- Watch on BBC iPlayer. However, you can watch after the event on any other catch-up service such as ITVX or Channel 4, but you are not permitted to catch up on iPlayer without a licence. You can find out more here.
The rules apply for any device, so you will need a licence even if you are just planning to watch on your mobile phone, for example.
Charles will only be the third British monarch to have their coronation broadcast on television - the first was his grandfather in 1937, followed by his mother in 1953. George VI’s coronation was the first to be televised, and there were fewer than 20,000 TV sets across the whole of the UK at the time. An estimated 10,000 people tuned in to watch live in black and white, although many more listened on the radio.
When Queen Elizabeth II was crowned 16 years later, in 1953, technology had moved on at a rapid pace. Around two million owned TVs and 27 million people in the UK are believed to have watched the coronation, with people crowding into their friends and neighbours’ homes to make use of their sets - around 17 people watched each TV.
King Charles III and Queen Camilla's coronation is expected to draw a large audience, both in the UK and internationally, but the ceremony may not be as popular with everyone as previous events, according to Republic, a British anti-monarchy website, which claims between 7.7 and 7.8bn people will not watch the ceremony.
Around 350 million are expected to watch the event - far less than major sporting events such as the World Cup Final in 2022, which was watched by 1.5bn, according to FIFA, and less than the reported 4bn who watched the Queen’s funeral last September.
Now read:
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- Wonderful footage of a 1937 Newcastle street party celebrating that year's royal coronation
- Decorating your car for the King's Coronation could land you a £2,500 fine and driving ban
- Sausage roll from Greggs among freebies celebrating King Charles' coronation this bank holiday
- Pop-up cinema in Gosforth will launch with Coronation screening this Saturday
