In town halls and social media groups, New Zealand’s most committed royalists are planning high teas, concerts, and watching parties. For the most dedicated, the memorabilia will be out on display: tea sets and replica tiaras, lifetime collections of Woman’s Weekly front pages and special edition photo books. For others, however – including some of the country’s dedicated royal watchers – the coronation cupcakes and cucumber sandwiches come with a side of doubt, over the future of the monarchy and the changing way that it is viewed in colonised countries.
Elizabeth Garlick will watch the coronation live, late into the night, with a group of other royal fans who are planning wine, cheese, and possibly tiaras. She says she fell in love with the royals as a small child, seeing princess Diana in the news, and over time became a “royal watcher” – keeping track of major events in the monarchy’s timeline. “I grew up in a family of other royal watchers – my great aunties, my great nana has [the queen’s] coronation on vinyl,” she says. “For me, this is like a once in a lifetime – a historical moment.”
