Saturday, May 6 is the coronation of England’s Charles III. After that event, he will use a different name, which I won’t acknowledge as an Irish American.
The event is controversial for lots of complicated reasons that can be summed up as “a lot of people don’t like the monarchy, because in the social media age they’re hyper-aware of the effects of wealth disparity and colonialism” or “they know it’s really uncool in the eyes of anyone younger than 40 to like the monarchy” and “some people had affection for the Queen, but they don’t really vibe with Charles like that.”
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The Royal Family has had a hard time finding top-flight entertainment to play the ceremony, as many artists make disdaining the monarchy a part of their image, or are aware it’s now considered a bad look to younger audiences.
Rolling Stone reports that homegrown superstars Adele, Harry Styles, Robbie Williams, and Elton John all turned down offers to play the ceremony, likely because of both the allegations made by Meghan Markle about what she termed racist treatment from the family, as well as recent scandals involving “Prince Andrew’s” relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. Instead, they’ve recruited Katy Perry and Lionel Richie to play the thing.
But let’s be fair here.
While Millennials and Zoomers largely don’t care about this sort of thing, it's a huge part of England’s cultural traditions, and plenty of people (many of them largely offline or older) don’t really pay attention to or care about or agree with the changing cultural attitudes around the monarchy, they just get into the pageantry and tradition of it all.
So love it or hate it, the Coronation is going to be a big deal, as hundreds of thousands of visitors are expected to travel to see the event in person at Westminster Abbey. But it might be difficult to catch a flight to London to see it in person.
Security workers at London's Heathrow Airport (LHR) are planning a number of strikes over pay next month, which may end up limiting the amount of flights available. The walkouts are scheduled for May 4-6, May 9-10 and May 25-27, and will largely involve security staff, notes The Points Guy.
Executives with the airport, London's biggest airport, say they offered a new deal back in January that would provide a 10% pay increase in addition to a lump sum payment of 1,150 British pounds, or about $1,432), and that Unite the Union (a British and Irish trade union) have not let members vote on this deal.
In response, Unite says the raise does not adequately address the rising costs of living currently impacting workers. “Strikes next month will cause further disruption to airport passengers but this dispute is a direct result of Heathrow’s stubborn refusal to make an offer that meets our members’ expectations,” Unite’s regional officer Wayne King said.
“Our members have been crystal clear they are seeking a substantial permanent increase in pay," King added. "A small one off lump sum payment will not alleviate the financial pressures our members are facing on a daily basis.”
In response, the airport is essentially calling the union’s bluff, noting that a recent walkout of close to 1,400 security officers over Easter didn’t bring Heathrow to a grinding halt.
“We kept Heathrow running smoothly during the first 10 days of United’s failed industrial action, and passengers can have confidence that we will do so again this time,” a spokesperson for Heathrow Airport said.
British Airways, the sole operator from Terminal 5, canceled 5% of its flights due to the 10-day walkouts over Easter.
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