The coronation of Charles IIIwhich will take place next Saturday, May 6, is going to cost the British a total of 250 million pounds sterling (280 million euros), spending that has increased due to a massive Security Bill passed in special to cover the event, incorporating thousands of police officers and protection squads for the ceremony and its guests.
According to sources from the British Ministry of the Interior, just to deploy the thousands of police officers and teams that will be in charge of the security and protection of the events and the venues of the event already account for more than half of the cost, which amounts to a total of 150 million of pounds: “Possibly more. It is a crazy sum, but this is one of the largest public events in recent history,” sources from the Ministry of the Interior have assured the digital Mirror.
The same sources have justified the very expensive operation: “Thousands of agents are involved, and many will work overtime. The mere fact of receiving dignitaries in the country and housing them is a hellish operation in itself. Most of them will be taken by police escorts from the airfields, which is only a small cog in this gigantic security machine: there is much more to the operation,” he says.
Mark Scoulartactical commander of the weddings of the Prince Guillermohe Prince Harry and the 2012 Olympics, he believes that the cost of this bill and the operation it regulates will finally increase: “The work involved in an event like this is monstrous. On Coronation Day itself, there will be CBRN units (Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear) throughout London There will be munitions technical officers, firearms units will double, the number of public order officers on duty will be staggering, the services efforts will multiply of ambulances, firefighters and rescuers. In addition, the number of people working in Intelligence is going to be monumental”.
The remaining 100 million pounds of the total budget will be invested in the organization of the coronation scenes and the planned three days of celebrations, which supposes a very high cost for the taxpayers of the United Kingdom, precisely when it comes to the coronation of a king who has always boasted of wanting to lead an austere monarchy with healthy accounts.
The comparison with respect to the costs of the coronation in 1953 of the deceased Isabel II they are spectacular. Then a total of 1.57 million pounds was spent, which would come to mean 47 million according to the real value of money today.
Obviously, not only the passage of time and the cost of living increase the budget considerably. The security threats in an international event of the nature of this coronation, in which a large number of international leaders are concentrated, significantly increase the costs.
Stop activism and prevent attacks
Several protests are scheduled for those days in London that have triggered investment in security for the event, which the Ministry of the Interior coordinates under the name Operation Golden Orb.
Among the highest expenses, according to sources from the English ministry consulted by the digital Mirrorthe plan is included with a special schedule to control air traffic for the flights of the numerous dignitaries that are going to land and take off in the vicinity of the British capital on those days.
The authorities fear that climate change activists want to demonstrate or carry out actions of informative impact during the arrivals of the planes of the illustrious guests at the coronation, for this reason security will be reinforced on the runways of RAF Northolt, in Middlesex and from RAF Biggleswade, in Beds, designated as the landing sites for the different heads of state invited as of next Thursday.
So that the activists of any claim do not have the slightest opportunity to sabotage and tarnish the colorful royal ceremony, the authorities have also planned to put a large number of armed agents on the streets, as well as snipers on the roofs and police drones that monitor from the Sky the crowds looking for any suspicious activity.
Those responsible for the security of the event foresee that environmental and anti-system groups such as Just Stop Oil or Republic will act. However, not only the protests worry. Obviously the special forces will be on the lookout, as part of the UK’s counter-terrorism defense mechanism, they are their Blue Thunder 2 helicopters ready to take off in the event of any attack.