S1: The British royal family has put on quite a soap opera in recent years. Meghan and Harry versus William and Kate. Allegations of racism , internal squabbles and even sexual misconduct by the king's brother Andrew , to say nothing of the scandal of divorce and the tragic death of Princess Diana. But no matter what you think of the wistful Windsors , the coronation of King Charles this Saturday is an actual , for real , big time historical event. The British monarchy has survived more than a thousand years with some notable interruptions. And even in its present ceremonial form , its powerful imagery holds a grip on the world. Even the part of the world who told another king to get lost about two centuries ago. Nikki McHugh. Beattie is here. She is general manager of the Shakespeare Pub , a little bit of Britain right here in San Diego. And Nikki , thanks for joining us.
S2: Oh , you're welcome.
S1:
S2: We will be showing the procession to Westminster live and then the ceremony at 3 a.m. Right now , I have 50 to 60 people booked for the event and I'm hoping to get to 100 before Friday.
S1: Yeah , I mean , as you say , it's in the middle of the night for us. 100 people showing up might be quite something.
S2: Yeah , we had a pretty good turnout for the funeral , which was shocking as well because it was through the night. But people just want to be part of such a historic event.
S1: And , of course , you're speaking about Queen Elizabeth , the second's funeral. Yes. And so who does show up to these events ? Are these British expatriates ? Are they American ? Both.
S2: It's just a mixture. I've met a lot of really interesting people , as I say , at the queen's funeral and a lot of American people are just it's just curiosity for them. The royal family , um , and many of them knew way more about it than I did because of research and totally getting them involved in it all.
S1: So this is the place to be for Anglo Files on Saturday , early , early Saturday morning. This coronation , though , really isn't like a royal wedding or even the Queen's funeral. It has historical significance.
S2: We've been that long saying , God save the Queen , that now obviously it's going to be God save the king. So it truly is a historical event.
S1: You do make a good point because most British people have only known one royal sovereign right , Queen Elizabeth. She was crowned way back in 1953. Yes.
S2: Yes. And we were discussing this , too. We won't ever see that in my lifetime. I'll never say God save the queen again. Obviously , with the next two , we're going to have two kings before. Yeah. As I say , I don't know when we'll see. Say God save the Queen again.
S1: Because you have William and his son in the line of succession , right ? Yeah.
S2: He seems to be very , um , into the environment and into all different research programs. And he actually started , um , something for the kids at home called the Princess Trust , where he encouraged a lot of it's still running , encourages a lot of school children to really get involved in charitable events and the environment. So he has influenced a lot of people already before he's even become the king.
S1: You know , when Queen Elizabeth was crowned. She was in her early 20 seconds. So she had so much ahead that was unknown in contrast. You have Charles , who's been waiting nearly all of his life to become king. There's so much known about his missteps , his messy marriage and divorce.
S2: And to be honest , it makes him appear more human. I mean , he's got divorced like a regular person and remarried. And the royals were always kind of looked upon us as as not being like us , where he is just he seems more like one of the people.
S1: I'm speaking with. Nikki McEwen Beatty , general manager of the Shakespeare Pub in San Diego. And we're talking about Saturday's coronation of King Charles the third. Nikki , what are you hearing from your friends and family back in Britain about the coronation.
S2: That it's going to be shorter than previous events ? And also he wanted it downsized so there wasn't going to be as huge an event as it was for the queen.
S1:
S2: Yeah.
S1: Yeah.
S2:
S3: Why do you think that.
S1:
S2: It's just it's I mean , they live in castles and it's always been such a huge part of European history. I mean , I used to laugh. My daughter , we took her back to see a castle. She thought the only castles were pink because she's used to Disneyland and what have you. She wasn't used to seeing an older brick building with a moat around it. It's. Yeah , it's. It's. It's very different across there.
S1: And I mean , like shows like the Crown just go on and on and on. And people on both sides of the Atlantic are just eating this stuff up. And for me , I'm not really crazy about this. I'm just scratching my head.
S2: There's things that have occurred throughout history that I didn't know until I watched the Crown. Um , so I mean , I just find it also fascinating. And now it's becoming more to current time , obviously. Now I can reflect back on situations that I recall , like obviously Princess Diana's death and the kids being born and things. So I can relate back to that now. I mean , it's just fascinating.
S3: Now when.
S1:
S2:
S4:
S2: Yes.
S4: I want I want to thank you so much for speaking with us.
S1: I've been speaking with Nikki McEwen Beatty , general manager of the Shakespeare Pub. Thank you so. Much.
S3: Much. Okay.
S2: Thank you , dear.
S4: Bye bye.
No matter what you think of the British royal family, the coronation of King Charles III this Saturday is a major historical event. The British monarchy has survived more than 1,000 years (with some notable interruptions) and, even in its present ceremonial form, its powerful imagery holds a grip on the world. That includes a part of the world who told another king to get lost more than two centuries ago.
Guest: Nikki McEwan-Beatty, general manager, Shakespeare Pub
