At the coronation of King Charles III. tens of thousands of onlookers braved the rain – based on historical experience, wet weather was to be expected anyway. It was the fifth consecutive coronation that rain fell. “Typically British,” the PA news agency called it.
“Rain at coronations seems to be an ongoing issue,” said a spokesman for Britain’s Met Office. “It’s not uncommon for rain to fall at this (or any other) time of year.” Numerous people held up umbrellas – often in the British colors of blue, white and red – and protected themselves with rain ponchos.
With a maximum of 16 degrees Celsius, it also remained quite fresh in London – but still significantly milder than Charles’ mother Queen Elizabeth II on June 2, 1953, when the thermometer reached a maximum of 11.8 degrees. It also rained then – as did King Edward VII in August 1902, King George V on June 22, 1911 and Charles’ grandfather King George VI. on May 12, 1937.
