London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Dec 17, 2025

Big screen thrills for coronation partygoers celebrating in the park

Big screen thrills for coronation partygoers celebrating in the park

Details of plans to mark the Coronation in London have been revealed
Up to 100,000 are expected to head to Hyde Park to mark the King’s coronation, event organisers have revealed.

Preparations are also being made for thousands of people to line the procession route along The Mall to watch Charles and Camilla travel between Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey.

The numbers drawn to central London are expected to exceed the thousands who attended the Queen’s platinum jubilee celebrations last June.

Organisers are planning for 50,000 people to watch the coronation on Saturday May 6 on giant screens erected on either side of the Serpentine lake in Hyde Park.

A similar number is expected to party in the park the following evening when the Coronation Concert — rumoured to feature Sir Paul McCartney, Take That and Lionel Richie — will be beamed live from Windsor Castle.

Green Park and St James’s Park are expected to be extremely crowded on coronation day. Screens will be erected in both royal parks and on Horse Guards Parade for those unable to catch a glimpse of the military procession.

Westminster council’s licensing committee approved the plans yesterday after the Government’s chief organiser Jon Martin, from the Department of Culture, told councillors: “This is truly an exceptional application and, for once, that is no exaggeration.”

Latest details to emerge include an RAF flypast — for the newly-crowned King’s appearance on the palace balcony with the royal family — and widespread road closures in central London during the bank holiday weekend, making it “challenging” for residents to get around. Transport for London is due to publish travel advice next week.

The plans include late-night food and drink stalls in Green Park and St James’s Park, offering tea, coffee and bacon sandwiches, to cater for those who arrive on Friday night and camp out to secure a prime position.

No alcohol will be on sale at this point. “It’s quite literally a welfare provision,” Mr Martin told the committee. “I cannot say how many people will come in the late hours. I suspect in the early morning there will be quite some numbers.”

However there will be stalls selling Pimm’s and gin from 10am until 10pm on Saturday and from 4pm to 10pm on Sunday, including in Hyde Park. Ice cream and churros will also be available.

A “very significant police presence”, to ensure security along the route, would be on hand in the event of any drunkenness, Mr Martin said.

The BBC will start its live coverage at 7.30am on Saturday. The RAF flypast is expected at around 2.45pm.

Hyde Park will not be ticketed. Grandstands near Buckingham Palace and Admiralty Arch will be reserved for military veterans, cadets and key workers.

The Coronation Concert will feature “music icons and contemporary stars”, starting at 8.30pm and running for 90 minutes. It will have a live audience of 20,000 — half of which are Britons who won free tickets in a ballot.

The other tickets have been given to charities supported by Charles and Camilla. The concert will feature the Countess of Wessex String Orchestra and the Bands of the Household Division.

According to the BBC, they will play interpretations of “musical favourites… fronted by some of the biggest entertainers from the worlds of pop, opera, and soul music”.

The concert will also feature the Coronation Choir, created from community choirs and amateur singers.

The centrepiece will be a section called Lighting up the Nation, when landmark locations are lit using projections, lasers and drone displays. Identity, the firm that organised London’s New Year’s Eve fireworks and the Pride parade, will manage the event.

Westminster’s licensing committee chairwoman Iman Less said: “These are not only extraordinary events but an important moment in history.”
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Files $10 Billion Defamation Lawsuit Against BBC as Broadcaster Pledges Legal Defence
UK Says U.S. Tech Deal Talks Still Active Despite Washington’s Suspension of Prosperity Pact
UK Mortgage Rules to Give Greater Flexibility to Borrowers With Irregular Incomes
UK Treasury Moves to Position Britain as Leading Global Hub for Crypto Firms
U.S. Freezes £31 Billion Tech Prosperity Deal With Britain Amid Trade Dispute
Prince Harry and Meghan’s Potential UK Return Gains New Momentum Amid Security Review and Royal Dialogue
Zelensky Opens High-Stakes Peace Talks in Berlin with Trump Envoy and European Leaders
Historical Reflections on Press Freedom Emerge Amid Debate Over Trump’s Media Policies
UK Boosts Protection for Jewish Communities After Sydney Hanukkah Attack
UK Government Declines to Comment After ICC Prosecutor Alleges Britain Threatened to Defund Court Over Israel Arrest Warrant
Apple Shutters All Retail Stores in the United Kingdom Under New National COVID-19 Lockdown
US–UK Technology Partnership Strains as Key Trade Disagreements Emerge
UK Police Confirm No Further Action Over Allegation That Andrew Asked Bodyguard to Investigate Virginia Giuffre
Giuffre Family Expresses Deep Disappointment as UK Police Decline New Inquiry Into Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor Claims
Transatlantic Trade Ambitions Hit a Snag as UK–US Deal Faces Emerging Challenges
Ex-ICC Prosecutor Alleges UK Threatened to Withdraw Funding Over Netanyahu Arrest Warrant Bid
UK Disciplinary Tribunal Clears Carter-Ruck Lawyer of Misconduct in OneCoin Case
‘Pink Ladies’ Emerge as Prominent Face of UK Anti-Immigration Protests
Nigel Farage Says Reform UK Has Become Britain’s Largest Party as Labour Membership Falls Sharply
Google DeepMind and UK Government Launch First Automated AI Lab to Accelerate Scientific Discovery
UK Economy Falters Ahead of Budget as Growth Contracts and Confidence Wanes
Australia Approves Increased Foreign Stake in Strategic Defence Shipbuilder
Former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson proclaims, “For Ukraine, surrendering their land would be a nightmare.”
Microsoft Challenges £2.1 Billion UK Cloud Licensing Lawsuit at Competition Tribunal
Fake Doctor in Uttar Pradesh Accused of Killing Woman After Performing YouTube-Based Surgery
Hackers Are Hiding Malware in Open-Source Tools and IDE Extensions
Traveling to USA? Homeland Security moving toward requiring foreign travelers to share social media history
UK Officials Push Back at Trump Saying European Leaders ‘Talk Too Much’ About Ukraine
UK Warns of Escalating Cyber Assault Linked to Putin’s State-Backed Operations
UK Consumer Spending Falters in November as Households Hold Back Ahead of Budget
UK Orders Fresh Review of Prince Harry’s Security Status After Formal Request
U.S. Authorises Nvidia to Sell H200 AI Chips to China Under Security Controls
Trump in Direct Assault: European Leaders Are Weak, Immigration a Disaster. Russia Is Strong and Big — and Will Win
"App recommendation" or disguised advertisement? ChatGPT Premium users are furious
"The Great Filtering": Australia Blocks Hundreds of Thousands of Minors From Social Networks
Mark Zuckerberg Pulls Back From Metaverse After $70 Billion Loss as Meta Shifts Priorities to AI
Nvidia CEO Says U.S. Data-Center Builds Take Years while China ‘Builds a Hospital in a Weekend’
Indian Airports in Turmoil as IndiGo Cancels Over a Thousand Flights, Stranding Thousands
Hollywood Industry on Edge as Netflix Secures Near-$60 Bln Loan for Warner Bros Takeover
Drugs and Assassinations: The Connection Between the Italian Mafia and Football Ultras
Hollywood megadeal: Netflix acquires Warner Bros. Discovery for 83 billion dollars
The Disregard for a Europe ‘in Danger of Erasure,’ the Shift Toward Russia: Trump’s Strategic Policy Document
Two and a Half Weeks After the Major Outage: A Cloudflare Malfunction Brings Down Multiple Sites
UK data-regulator demands urgent clarity on racial bias in police facial-recognition systems
Labour Uses Biscuits to Explain UK Debt — MPs Lean Into Social Media to Reach New Audiences
German President Lays Wreath at Coventry as UK-Germany Reaffirm Unity Against Russia’s Threat
UK Inquiry Finds Putin ‘Morally Responsible’ for 2018 Novichok Death — London Imposes Broad Sanctions on GRU
India backs down on plan to mandate government “Sanchar Saathi” app on all smartphones
King Charles Welcomes German President Steinmeier to UK in First State Visit by Berlin in 27 Years
UK Plans Major Cutback to Jury Trials as Crown Court Backlog Nears 80,000
×