As British information channels start to disclose their royal programming for King Charles III’s Could 6 Coronation, Channel 4 is taking a wholly completely different strategy—and pulling no punches.
The broadcaster has introduced a collection of packages that can place the monarchy underneath a microscope and query its future as a lot of the British public ponders the identical. In an announcement Monday, Channel 4 stated it is going to “present an escape from the pomp and ceremony elsewhere.”
Amongst its “much less reverential” packages might be a present referred to as Farewell to Monarchy, fronted by comic Frankie Boyle, which can look at if the royal household has a spot in right now’s world.
It’ll additionally air Andrew – The Downside Prince, a two-part program on the Prince’s notorious Newsnight interview about his friendship with convicted intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein. Extra comedy content material will embrace The Windsors Coronation Particular, a satirical sitcom billed as “extra deluded and extra dysfunctional than ever earlier than!”, and an equally biting re-run of Prince Andrew: The Musical.
In the meantime, the anti-monarchy Republic stress group wrote an open letter on Monday accusing the BBC of getting made “no try to be neutral or balanced” in its royal programming.
“The results of the BBC’s failures is that the protection serves the pursuits of a shrinking minority who may fairly be referred to as royalists. In doing so, they do a disservice to the entire nation,” the open letter learn. The BBC, nonetheless, instructed HuffPost UK its reporting is “honest and duly neutral.”
Learn Extra: Right here’s Everybody Who Will—and Gained’t—Go to King Charles III’s Coronation
Regardless, Channel 4’s “different” coronation protection is more likely to resonate with hundreds of thousands of Brits who don’t appear excited concerning the upcoming occasion. A YouGov ballot from earlier this month discovered that 69% of these surveyed both don’t care very a lot or under no circumstances concerning the coronation, whereas solely 9% stated they care a terrific deal and 24% cared a good quantity.
One other ballot carried out by YouGov in Could 2021 confirmed a rising variety of Brits shunning the monarchy, with a plurality of 18-24 12 months olds preferring an elected head of state relatively than a monarch.
“Polling reveals that folks that aren’t within the [coronation] and the individuals which might be against the monarchy could also be within the minority, however that minority goes up,” Graham Smith, CEO of Republic, tells TIME.
The group’s web site notes that hereditary public workplace means there isn’t a technique to maintain the household to account “on the poll field” or forestall misuse of public funds. In early April, a bombshell investigation by The Guardian referred to as “Price of the crown” discovered that the royals use a variety of authorized and monetary loopholes to keep away from public scrutiny.
“What we would like is for abolition and a parliamentary republic just like many European republics like Eire, Germany, and Finland,” Smith says. Republic has organized a coronation protest with 1,200 individuals anticipated to greet the King’s procession at Trafalgar Sq. because the royals make their technique to and from Westminster Abbey.
“It’ll be the primary time {that a} main royal occasion has been confronted instantly with a protest so [we hope] it is going to increase plenty of questions and get individuals interested by it critically,” Smith says.
Judging by Channel 4’s royals protection plan, it’s a protest they appear poised to cowl.
Extra Should-Reads From TIME