I\njust took a picture with the King where I found him, on the street:<\/p>\n\n\n\n But the day was an adventure, I must admit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\nsuddenly decided to go to London, as having been there 30 times as a crazy\ntourist, I couldn’t have missed this particular opportunity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\ndidn’t have high expectations to see the King up close, I imagined it would be\ncrowded, but I swear I was sure that, at least on the balcony of Buckingham\nPalace, I would be able to see him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\ncame prepared, having everything: phone + external battery (to make sure the phone\ndoesn’t run out in the most important moment), wind protection for the phone\n(yes, the Chinese invented that too hihi), DSRL camera with infinite card space… and I did even better: I took another\nlens, so that I could capture even the pimples on King Charles’ face!<\/p>\n\n\n\n You get into the festive atmosphere from the airport, and on the subway, morning people full of enthusiasm and all kinds of accessories are already heading towards the center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\nhave the coronation “kit”, received from my friend Mira, so I am\noverwhelmed by emotions. I will meet the King!!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\nget my first shock when I arrive at the hotel: in the lobby, I see none other\nthan Camilla, the Queen consort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\nseems that she is also shocked by my appearance. No, she doesn’t know me from TV\n\uf04a.\nIt’s just that I look like I got hit by the royal train.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nwoman is too cool, all dressed up for this occasion. I guess she knows that she\nwill be the star of the day anywhere she goes, because everyone will want to\ntake a picture with her. Like me, by the way…<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\ndon’t know what the Queen’s schedule is, but I’m in a hurry to get to Trafalgar\nSquare<\/strong>, then go towards Buckingham\nPalace<\/strong>, to see the real Queen, next to her King. That’s my plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At\n9.30 AM I’m already in Trafalgar Square.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Well,\nwhat do I see??… Iron fences everywhere, basically the iron curtain has been\ninstalled in London.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You\ndon’t have the slightest possibility of taking it to the cross-road where\nCharles is going to pass towards Westminster. There is only one open way, which\nwe all take, like sheep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\nhave no worries, we are going in the direction of the Palace, as we are well\ninformed, but on a parallel road. And I wait from place to place to see where we\ncan turn left, towards Buckingham.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It’s\nfun to see so many people. Cheerful people, each one equipped with whatever he\/she\nbought for this special occasion. I’ll show you several people that I met\nduring this day which promises to be very interesting:<\/p>\n\n\n\n I admit that I photographed some of them on the run, but I took pictures of most of them, those who made efforts and put their imagination to work to equip themselves in a unique way today, having their full consent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not only did they not mind, but they even came together especially to pose for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\nalso met a citizen who certainly doesn’t care about the King and the ceremony\nhihi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Instead,\nothers took full advantage of the huge number of people in the street to\npromote their activity. I’m referring here to some religious organizations \u2013 I\ndon’t know what else to call them \u2013 with people scattered all over the route,\nhanding out leaflets, but especially “banknotes” of 1 million pounds\nwith the King, which everyone happily took, believing that they were a souvenir\nfrom the coronation. Only then\ndid you hear that the message on the back should also be read \u2013 a message about\nJesus, about the Bible and I don’t know what religious podcast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even\nif you want to go online where these people invite you, you can’t: I can\nneither call, nor send pictures, nor search for anything on the Internet, nor\nreceive any calls or messages. The network is caput! All of them are, I tried\nthem all!!! Yeap, we are not used to not being connected non-stop to the world.\nThere you are, it can happen. (A reality that, as I was going to find out,\nlasted for 3 days and 3 nights, like in fairy tales. It was only on the 4th day\nwe went back to normal with the networks.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\nis full of law enforcement officers, “guides” and police! And surely\nmany agents walk among us…<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\nsee on some people’s vests that they specialize in “crowd\nmanagement”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Television crews are everywhere, broadcasting the hottest news from under the cold rain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And we still keep going\u2026 From time to time, I, like others, stop to ask the police when we turn left towards the Palace, and the policemen keep showing us to go straight. Something like: “you go that way, we will tell you when to stop…”<\/p>\n\n\n\n I lose my enthusiasm when I see that, at a certain moment, instead of the left, they direct us all straight to the right!!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n What\nare you doing, man?? This is the other left, I want to go to the correct left!\nBut there’s no one to get along with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some\nguys take parallel streets, thinking they will find a way, but the law\nenforcement officers in the street explain to us, those who are still\nlistening, that the secondary streets are blocked \u2013 you take one, you go back to\nwhere you left from. So we go with the flow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The road to the Palace is right behind us \ud83d\ude41<\/p>\n\n\n\n A few clever traders put out various products for sale, some modern, some older: coronation flags, hats and umbrellas with the flag of the United Kingdom, medals with Charles or plastic rain coats. Of course, at prices you wouldn’t normally pay for them. I refrain from buying… Even if it rains from time to time, I don’t need any raincoat. I’m wearing a waterproof jacket, I also have a small umbrella so, even if I left my plastic coat in the room, it’s all right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And\nwe go, we keep going, and the crowd gets bigger and bigger. We could really start a revolution here!<\/p>\n\n\n\n While\nthinking about this, I see some protesters on my right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n People\nare marching with the\nmessage “NOT MY KING”, fraternizing with the police, who are there,\nshoulder to shoulder with them, making sure this thing won’t take an ugly turn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\nwould take a nice turn when I reach Green Park <\/strong>\u2013 the place from where I\nhad the fastest access to Buckingham Palace in the past. But not only is access\nto the park prohibited, but the police also remove people from there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\nhave my press ID with me, it crosses my mind for a moment to see if they would\nlet me inside the park with\nthat, but I don’t present the slightest guarantee that I came “to report\nfrom the scene”: I’m dressed in tracksuits, with a jacket for walking on\nmountain paths, with shoes for tourist walks. So I go on with the crowd\nand here I start to feel my first disappointment: the signs placed here and\nthere on the route no longer say “Towards Processional Route Viewing”, but “Towards\nScreen”. Really?? I could have stayed at home in the armchair to watch\n“a screen”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes, but who would miss walking for kilometers\nin the rain\/sleet\/shower, plus stepping in puddles, plus suffocating in the crowds?…<\/p>\n\n\n\n I’m beginning to regret that I left that rain plastic in the room. The shoes can’t cope with all the rain, I feel like I’m swimming in them. But there is no turning back. Literally! \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n\n Look,\nI’m seeing King Charles!!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another\nCharles, unfortunately, the King of France, who once lived in this London\nbuilding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We\nfind out from the law enforcement people that, organized as we are going in one\ndirection, we will end up in Hyde Park<\/strong>. What?!? We are getting further\nand further away from Buckingham, f@&*k!!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n And\nwe walk, and we keep walking, crossing boulevards, until we enter the park I\nmentioned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\ndon’t know if you have ever been to Hyde Park. It’s huge, man. And don’t think\nthat the wonderful screen we are pushed towards is at the entrance. A woman\nfrom the Forces of Redirectioning and Dizziness of the Crowds shows us where to\ngo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On\nthe way, I enjoy people who are one more inventive than the other, eager to\nconvey messages through the costumes created for this occasion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\njudge the remaining distance after… the sound: the fact that I still don’t\nhear anything that resembles a live transmission makes me feel the roots of despair.\nIt is clear that the screen is basically at the end of the world!<\/p>\n\n\n\n “How\nlong until we get to the screen???” a lady desperately asks a girl in a\nvest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Another\n10 minutes of walking”. We are doomed! And so are our feet, of course, while\nthe head is hit by yet another shower.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A\nfew of us cut it short on the horse road, giving a brown tint to the shoes,\nthen we take it through the wet grass, and when the voices from the live transmission\nbegin to be heard, I, for one, feel like I’m approaching the finish line of a\nmarathon!<\/p>\n\n\n\n We\ngot there!!! <\/p>\n\n\n\n No, not at Buckingham Palace, not at Westminster, but… at the Screen in the park!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Us in front of the screen, Charles in front of Westminster Abbey, as I can see through the heads and the umbrellas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It’s full of people here! Everyone tries to find a place where they can see a bit better, but nothing guarantees that, because people carrying umbrellas keep coming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There\nis a lot of booze per square meter, which everyone tries to protect as best as they\ncan. Because not everyone wants a summer spritz made with rain drops…<\/p>\n\n\n\n Drinks,\nfood and small children are all hidden under the umbrellas parked on the\nblankets. A lady even warns me when she sees me moving from one foot to\nanother: “be careful, there is a child under this umbrella next to\nyou”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n People\ncame like for a picnic here, with boxes and baskets of food, with folding\nchairs and blankets of all colors and materials, to watch the Coronation while eating\nsome fish and chips.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There\nare many nationalities here, from what I hear around, and some even made an\neffort to dress up for the occasion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And,\neven if others didn’t make an effort, the flag became, out of necessity, a good\nclothing element for them… I don’t know if it keeps them warm or how much it can\nstop the rain, because I see a lot of people wet from head to toe. Or, to put\nit right, down to their panties, baby!<\/p>\n\n\n\n What\ncan I tell you? That I’m constantly scolding myself that I left my plastic\nraincoat and some rubber boots to put over my sneakers in my room??? I won’t\ntell you that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I go through the wet grass to a booth where they have the Official Coronation Program. I see the Queen in line to pee\u2026 Well, she’s human too\u2026 Then I turn to the King on the screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And\nthe ceremony begins, with its important moments, with shots of all those\npresent in Westminster Abbey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If\nI were to go by the reactions of the public in the park to each appearance or\naction on the screen, I know who their favorites are: William and that little\none, Louis, and on the opposite pole, Harry and Camilla, with slight growls\nreceived…<\/p>\n\n\n\n Watching\nthe ceremony, I think I stretched my neck by a few inches for life, which is\nnot a bad thing. It’s hard to see the crowned heads with so many umbrellas and\ncamouflaged heads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Do\nyou see any umbrellas??? You would say that the rain has stopped, but it\nhasn’t!<\/p>\n\n\n\n What\nactually happens: with the advancement of the coronation ceremony, the world\nhas become more focused on the screen, and therefore any open umbrella blocks\nthe view.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So that, beyond the show on the screen, a funny show begins on the lawn: if someone passes through the crowd with an open umbrella, everyone behind him, on a fairly large radius, starts shouting: “close the umbrella!!!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n As soon as that person closes the umbrella, the applause start. Invariably, whenever I hear a roar of applause from one side or the other, I know it’s not from the coronation, but from the fact that someone closed their umbrella, following the public’s request…<\/p>\n\n\n\n There was a funny reaction in the park when the Archbishop of Canterbury took the Royal Crown and headed towards Charles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/king-charles-coronation_london_me_2-768x1024.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nTHE CORONATION OF KING CHARLES<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nPEOPLE ON THE ROUTE<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/king-charles-coronation_police-1024x683.jpg\")
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<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nHYDE\nPARK<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/king-charles-coronation_screen-1024x683.jpg\")
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<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nTHE CORONATION OF KING CHARLES<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/king-charles-coronation_hyde-park_3-1024x768.jpg\")
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