Pittwater Life June 2023 Issue

An Avalon camper’s
crazy Coronation diary
News
Story by Dr Jonathan King
As soon as I heard King Charles III’s
Coronation would be 6 May 2023, I
decided to attend; after all, I had an
inside lane – or so I thought – having gone
to Geelong Grammar’s bushland campus,
Timbertop, just a few years ahead of
Charles. I had also interviewed Charles for
a story for The Australian when he arrived
at Timbertop in the 1960s.
We shared the same History teacher, Michael
Persse, and graduated with History
Degrees. In 1984 Persse asked Charles to
secure Buckingham Palace support for my
Australian Bicentennial Re-enactment of
the First Fleet voyage.
Thanks to Charles, Prince Philip met
me at Buckingham Palace and wrote a
strong letter of endorsement. My wife
Jane and I were presented to the Queen,
who accepted a posy from our daughters
in Portsmouth where Her Majesty then
boarded HMS Sirius, reviewed my Fleet
of 11 tall ships, officially launching our
expedition.
As Australian Rainforest Foundation
director, in the 1990s, I also publicly defended
Charles’ visionary call for bans on
rainforest logging.
I won an Order of Australia in 2022 in
the last Queens Birthday Honours; hence
I really thought I had this ‘inside lane’ to
the Coronation. In January I sent a letter
to Charles asking for special consideration
for his 80-year-old ‘School Chum’.
I checked my letterbox every day for
months but to no avail. I decided, “To
hell with it – I’ll go anyway!” (I am certain
Charles would have replied if he had seen
it.)
Having seen enthusiasts on TV camping
out for Royal weddings, I bought a tent,
flew to London and headed straight to
Buckingham Palace.
Friday 5 May
I got to the front of the queue of red, white
and blue bunting-covered tents at the
Buckingham Palace end of the Mall by
sneaking through St James Park, finding
a tiny spot under a tree on Coronation eve
morning.
Smiling nervously, I took my Australian
flag out of my backpack, donned my Akubra
and asked the most dominant camper
if I could pitch my tent. “Of course, Aussie!
We’ll help!” said cockney Jake, 35. He
instructed Marty (from Poland) and Jirina
(from Czechoslovakia) to assist erect
my tent, tie it to a tree and blow up my
Li-lo. Then there was Welsh couple Paula
and John who said I looked like Crocodile
Dundee; they presented a bottle of
Australian chardonnay, and barbequed
sausages. Karen from Portsmouth, who
remembered the Queen farewelling my
First Fleet, gave me a portable charger.
By noon I “belonged” and began enjoying
the camaraderie of this unifying
celebration. However, 30 minutes later
we encountered heavily tattooed former
British soldier Leighton, 42 – with a pottymouth
and shaved head, he burst into our
camp erecting his tent beside mine. He
said he was stoned on marijuana and he
was happy to boast about it. Then between
vapes he befriended me. Leighton said
he’d been invalided out of the Afghanistan
war after stepping on a landmine, showing
me a patched-up leg. “It’s all in here,”
he said, fishing a copy of Prince Harry’s
‘Spare’ out of his tent. “Harry fought in
same theatre, a bloody brave soldier, and
great bloke.”
More colourful characters added spice
to the afternoon, before at 2.05pm the
crowd roared: “It’s the King!” A red Rolls
Royce stopped nearby. Charles, the Prince
and the Princess of Wales, went on walkabouts,
chatting to campers for 20 minutes.
During the afternoon, reporters from a
host of countries interviewed us for social
media, with an English reporter congratulating
me on “the best seat in the house”.
Exhausted, I fell asleep at 7pm, woken
just an hour later by laughter as a group
of Jamaicans carrying chairs joined our
crowded camp.
Going to the toilet was a challenge, as
the Porta Loos were locked until the day
of the Coronation. When I reported a paper
shortage in the local toilet, the ‘Bobby’
laughed; “I’ve got more important issues
than that!”
At 9pm a drunken Irishman fell into my
tent. Every time I emerged, more people
had pushed in. At 10pm it looked like a
refugee camp. Loud hammering woke
me at 2am as security guards erected a
wall blocking my wife’s Jane’s rehearsed
entry via St James Park. I texted her. After
catching sleep in half-hour lots I woke at
4.30am.
14 JUNE 2023
The Local Voice Since 1991