America’s Anglophiles gear up for coronation day: ‘I have a corgi dress’

 

America’s Anglophiles gear up for coronation day: ‘I have a corgi dress’

 

It’s quiche, scones and a 4am start for the US’s British superfans, even as some remain unsure of what Charles III is about

 

Lois Beckett

Lois Beckett in Los Angeles

@loisbeckett

Thu 4 May 2023 06.00 BST

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/may/03/charles-iii-coronation-americans-celebrate

 

As she prepares to host a bingo night for Charles III’s coronation, DeeDee Cupcake, a Los Angeles emcee and burlesque host, has one thing checked off her list: the perfect outfit.

 

“I have a corgi dress with corgis all over it,” the 37-year-old said.

 

Cupcake, whose legal name is Diana Hicks, has been busy researching coronation facts for her bingo game and royal trivia competition at the Mayflower, a British-American social club in North Hollywood. Her favorite fact so far, gleaned from the royal website: “They’re serving a brand-new flavor of quiche!”

 

For Charles III, his coronation, at age 74, is a fraught personal and political event: an attempt to consolidate the legitimacy of the royal family, at a time when a recent poll found that less than half of UK adults under 50 believe Britain should continue to have a monarchy.

 

But for some Americans, Charles’s coronation is something simpler: an excuse to celebrate the British things they enjoy, like scones, fascinators, Aston Martins, and, of course, corgis, Elizabeth II’s favorite breed of dog.

 

In Grapevine, Texas, as many as 200 people are expected to gather at 4am local time to watch the coronation on a screen in the parking lot of a local British grocery store. Guests have been asked to bring their own lawn chairs, and despite the hour, many are expected to “come dressed as if they’re going to attend a royal event”, said the owner of the British Emporium, Sheela Bailey, who is originally from West Sussex.

 

Last weekend, the Texas store hosted a coronation-themed British car show and corgi parade, at which some of the corgis also wore festive attire.

 

British car enthusiasts across the country are also marking the occasion: the British Transportation Museum in Dayton, Ohio, which boasts 62 vehicles, will be celebrating Charles’s crowning as part of its annual British Car Meet.

 

 In St Louis, Missouri, the London Tea Room is hosting a coronation watch party starting at 5am, with quiche, scones and jam. Despite the pre-dawn hour, nearly 50 people have already bought tickets, its owner Jackie James said, most of them women.

 

If you ask Americans why other Americans are drawn to British things, their explanations usually boil down to the fact that England is very old. As Hicks, the Los Angeles emcee, put it: “I love vintage.”

 

On this count, Charles, who was 73 when he became king, fits in well with Britain’s global brand.

 

Retro party games appear to be a popular choice to celebrate the retro monarch: Chloé Cucchietti, an Etsy seller from France, said that she has sold nearly 100 of her coronation-themed bingo sets to customers in the United States, for festivities planned at senior centers and school classrooms, as well as parties in Georgia and Texas.

 

So far, though, Charles III’s coronation has not generated the same enthusiasm in Missouri as William and Harry’s fairytale weddings, said James, the tea shop owner, who is originally from Surrey.

 

“I hope they get the coverage for it over here that it warrants,” she said.

 

Before the royal weddings, James, 55, received multiple calls from local Missouri media outlets asking about her plans for the big day.

 

“I really haven’t seen anything on our local news yet,” James said. “There’s kind of a silence.”

 

“I’ve talked to some Americans and they’re like: ‘Well, isn’t he already king?’”

 

Following tradition, Joe Biden will not be attending the crowning of the British monarch, though the White House said the first lady, Jill Biden, would attend on behalf of the United States. Charles’s coronation is Britain’s first in 70 years, and will be the first time such an event will be accessible to a truly global audience, said Sir David Cannadine, a British historian who has studied the political and cultural significance of royal rituals.

 

Though Elizabeth II’s coronation in 1953 was televised, and by some accounts launched the age of modern television spectacles, “not many people owned television sets”, Cannadine said.

 

It’s still far from clear how large the global audience for such an event will be today, Cannadine said, and whether it will surpass the global viewership of the royal weddings or the state funeral of Elizabeth II, which was reportedly viewed by at least 29 million people in Britain and 11.4 million in the United States, according to television viewership figures.

 

But Cannadine said he expects there will be “a lot” of global interest, because no other monarchy in Europe now does coronations: “If you want to watch a coronation, this is the one to see.”

 

For older Americans, Elizabeth II was an iconic figure. “You felt like you knew her even if you didn’t know her,” said Cherie Beatty, 74, a British car enthusiast from Tennessee.

 

With Charles, “even though he’s been around for so long, Americans aren’t really that sure who he is and what he’s about,” Beatty said.

 

Beatty, who owns an Aston Martin, said she was impressed that Charles had converted his own Aston Martin “to run on cheese whey and excess white English wine”, as part of an effort to reconcile his environmentalism with his appreciation for car culture.

 

“I think generally he’s perceived as a serious thinker who’s in keeping with making the monarchy more modern,” she said.

 

While his global reputation was once defined by his marriage to and divorce from Diana, Princess of Wales, and her tragic death in 1997, some Americans now seem willing to engage with the king’s story on his own terms.

 

“I can’t imagine how hard it is to be in that royal bloodline, and the world is constantly watching you all the time,” Hicks, the Los Angeles emcee, said. “It’s been interesting to watch his journey up to this point.”

 

To celebrate Charles’s big day, Beatty said, she and other members of the Nashville British Car Club are planning a 75-mile drive through the backcountry, followed by a picnic and champagne toasts.

 

As she was admiring some classic British MG sports cars from the 1950s, Beatty said she was struck by just how many decades Charles spent preparing for his coronation day. “It came to me that most of these cars were brand new when he was already waiting to be king.”

 

“If the cars can still get around and do the job, I’m sure King Charles can, too,” she added.