What a journey!
21 hours on a plane from Perth, Australia, to a quick pitstop in Doha, Qatar and finally to London. My Dad is currently working part of the week in London so he came to pick me up from the airport and we hung out for the afternoon and went for dinner. He then dropped me at my hostel at Kings Cross. Thanks Dad!
Friday 5th May, 2023
After not a lot of sleep, I woke up early and decided to head out for a walk. I left my hostel at around 7:30am and got the tube from Kings Cross to Embankment. I crossed the bridge as I came out of the station and walked along The Thames, taking photos of the city and its landmarks. I walked passed the London Eye and found a little secret photo spot opposite the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben.
I paid my respects at the COVID memorial wall (a wall of red hearts with each heart representing someone who died from COVID) and was quite taken aback by just how many people died from the virus in the UK. I then crossed Westminster Bridge to Parliament Square and this was where I first got a sense of how amazing coronation weekend was going to be. Flags and banners everywhere and photographers and news presenters from all over the world were in the press box opposite Westminster Abbey ready to report of everything going on. After stopping for a snack, I walked up Whitehall, passed Downing Street to Trafalgar Square. I walked on to The Mall (the road that leads from Trafalgar Square to Buckingham Palace) and was amazed by the decorations, the flags and the atmosphere. It made me so excited for Coronation Day.
It was then time to retrace my route and head to Waterloo Station to meet my friend Sam. We got the train to Hampton Court Palace and explored the palace and the gardens. Sam had never been to HCP, so I did my best tour guiding while showing him around. I’ve been once before and I love history, it just fascinates me to think kings and queens walked those halls, slept in those rooms and walked the grounds. Just awesome!
After walking round Hampton Court Palace, we got the train back into the city and went for lunch at Happy (located in Leicester Square). They do the best burgers! Mine had cheese sauce injected in it at the table, stunning! After lunch, we needed to walk off some of the calories gained so we walked some of the back streets you wouldn’t normally walk down to The Mall. We missed the Royal Family doing a walkabout by 10 or so minutes. We then went back to Leicester Square to a pub for a few drinks. It was really good to catch up with Sam on our side of the world. Thanks Sam for an awesome day!
Saturday 6th May, 2023
What a historic day! King Charles III and Queen Camilla’s Coronation Day. I woke up at 5am (partly planned, partly jet lag), got dressed and set off for a monumental day. I arrived on The Mall at 6am and got as close to Buckingham Palace as I could. I managed to get about 200 metres from the Palace and I was about 7 people back from the barriers. Even this early in the morning, the atmosphere was incredible! I met some lovely people stood there for a million hours that day. The King drove passed us from Clarence House to the Palace at around 9am and then all the military started lining up ready for the procession to Westminster Abbey.
The procession to the Abbey started at precisely 10:20am. When the Diamond Jubilee Coach passed us with Their Majesties inside, it was amazing! People were cheering, waving flags, waving back at The King and Queen. It was so incredible! We then had a long wait until they came back again. While the Coronation ceremony was taking place at the Abbey, we stood watching the numerous battalions and regiments marching up The Mall to join the processional route from the Abbey to the Palace. There were speakers playing the ceremony which was hard to hear sometimes with such a loud crowd. We gathered round someone’s phone to watch a little bit, but the phone networks were jammed so it kept cutting out. We finally knew the King had been crowned when Archbishop Justin Welby could be heard proclaiming “God Save The King” over the speakers, the crowd roared “God Save The King” and cheers and applause resounded through London. Hearing the fanfare and the National Anthem (which the crowds sung with great enthusiasm) made me feel so British.
We still had a bit of waiting as the ceremony continued and finally at around 1 or 2pm, the procession started, and Their Majesties made their way back to Buckingham Palace. The bands, the clip clop of horses’ hooves, the thud of boots marching down The Mall was such an amazing sound. Finally, like a Mexican wave, we could hear shouts of “They’re coming” and “The carriage is coming”. Just like that, the magnificent Gold State Coach pulled by 8 Windsor Grey horses came into view. The visual spectacle of the vibrant. Commonwealth flags, the red and gold military uniforms and the gold carriage was insane! Their Majesties passed us to cheers and flag waving. We then had the Prince and Princess of Wales and their children pass us followed by other members of the Royal Family. Once they had all entered the Palace, we were told by police we’d soon be let onto The Mall for the balcony appearance and flypast. Sadly, where I was stood, was the only section of crowd that didn’t get released to stand on The Mall. We could just about see the balcony as the Royal Family came out to wave at the crowds. The flypast was scaled back due to the weather (rain, rain, and more rain – Welcome back to the UK) but it was cool to see the helicopters and Red Arrows flying overhead.
And then it was all over, time to try find somewhere to go have a late lunch and get dry. I eventually pushed through the crowds leaving The Mall and found myself back at Happy on Leicester Square for another burger. I sat in the restaurant for a couple of hours drying off and waiting for it to stop raining or at least stop raining as much as it had been. When it was safe to go back outside, I had a walk back down to The Mall, down to Buckingham Palace and then I walked to Westminster. By this time, it had started raining quite heavily again and it was nearly time to go to the theatre. So I crossed Westminster Bridge and sat outside at Starbucks for a bit until the doors opened for the theatre.
I went to see Agatha Christie’s Witness for the Prosecution at London County Hall. The play takes place in a real court and selected audience members are sworn in as the jury. It’s a fantastic play and I would highly recommend seeing it. It was great to see something a bit different to a musical. After the show, I made my way back to my hostel. I was exhausted.
Sunday 7th May, 2023
My little London trip has come to an end and it was finally time to head home to Jersey and reunite with my Mum, Sister and Grandparents. I left my hostel and made my way to the airport, where my flight was… delayed! Not to worry though, I still made it home in time for a roast dinner!
I hope you enjoyed reading this blog. If you’d like to know more about visiting London and what you can do here, have a read of my 11 Things to do in London blog.
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