Munroe Bergdorf makes obvious point about King Charles’ coronation amid cost-of-living crisis
Model Munroe Bergdorf slams upcoming coronation as “obscene display of wealth and power” (Envato/Getty/PinkNews)
Model and trans legend Munroe Bergdorf has branded the upcoming coronation of King Charles an “obscene display of wealth and power”.
In an Instagram post explaining that she believes Charles should have used his own money to pay for the coronation on Saturday (6 May), Bergdorf said the event was out-of-touch.
“I feel it would have been a gesture of kindness/true leadership/the right thing to do, for King Charles, who is estimated to be worth £1.8bn, to have perhaps used £100m of the £200m he inherited (tax free) from the queen, to fund his coronation party,” she said.
“Instead he is… asking people who can barely keep the lights/heating on to foot the bill via their taxes, and pledge allegiance to him whil[e] he’s riding in a golden carriage and wearing jewels from colonised nations. Baffled.”
She added that whether you’re pro or anti-monarchy, the coronation going ahead during Britain’s cost-of-living crisis and amid mass strikes is “a gauche, out-of-touch and, quite frankly obscene, display of wealth and power, during an increasingly desperate time for so many”.
The original image Munroe Bergdorf used along with her caption was from Twitter user and queer writer Stuart Warwick, who described the coronation as “distasteful and sickening”, on Monday (1 May).
Warwick added in a follow-up tweet that he finds the monarchy “medieval and offensive”, and that the government has used “extreme patriotism” in the run-up to the celebration to “keep itself in power”.
A special concert will take place the day after the official event and will feature appearances and performances from stars the likes of Katy Perry, Take That, Tom Cruise, Dame Joan Collins, Nicole Scherzinger and Winnie the Pooh.
Brighton & Hove’s Actually Gay Men’s Chorus will also perform as part of a “coronation choir” made up of amateur singers including refugees, NHS workers and deaf musicians.
The chorus’ chairman, Gavin Bennett, said the group were thrilled and honoured to have been selected to join the coronation choir.
However, some people have suggested that the coronation should be used as a time to reflect on the monarchy’s future, and to apologise for Britain’s colonial past.
“With [Queen Elizabeth II] gone and, dare I say, a much-less-popular monarch coming on to the throne… now is the time to change it and to re-establish it. It’s long overdue,” said Jeremiah Garsha, an assistant professor in modern global history at University College Dublin.
“I do think that 2023 is going to be that watershed moment where we look back at it and see that there is not a place for a monarchy any more in a new Britain.”
