Coronation news: Prince Louis drives digger and pushes …
Prince Louis has taken part in his first official royal engagement, joining his family to help renovate a Scout Hut. The five-year-old took centre stage at a Big Help Out event in Slough, where he clambered aboard a digger and pushed a wheelbarrow. The Prince and Princess of Wales took all three of their children to join volunteers at the 3rd Upton Scouts Hut in Slough, not far from their Windsor home.
Prince George, nine, and Princess Charlotte, eight, also helped volunteers who planned to reset a path, dig a new soakaway, sand and revarnish the front door, add planters to the front of the building, and paint a mural as a lasting legacy of the Big Help Out's work. The Scout Hut was built in 1982 and is used by a variety of community groups in the area, including the local mosque, a senior citizens contact group for members of the Asian community and the Scout group themselves. The building is also used by Slough All Nations, a group with heritage spanning across St.
Kitts & Nevis, and which provides recreation and leisure activities to improve health and wellbeing and promote community cohesion. The Princess has been joint president of the Scouts since 2020. Follow the latest developments below.
12:34PMIn pictures: Prince Louis takes control of wheelbarrow
During the engagement, Prince Louis also grabbed a spade and confidently shovelled sand into a wheelbarrow under the proud gaze of his mother.
Prince Louis shovels sand into a wheelbarrowCredit: DANIEL LEAL/AFP/Getty Images Louis performed the task under the watchful eye of his motherCredit: Daniel LEAL/AFP/Getty Images12:24PMWatch: Prince Louis on board a digger
Prince Louis has taken part in his first official royal engagement - and even had the chance to take to the controls of a digger, with a little help from his father, writes Victoria Ward.
The young prince sat on his father's lap as they helped shift some soil. He gazed down intently as his father cautiously manoeuvred the controls to swing the machine from side to side.
Prince Louis, five, has made his official royal debut at the #coronation Big Help Out - his first royal engagement - where he clambered aboard a digger as he joined his family to help renovate a Slough Scout Hut pic.twitter.com/4ndN9ePKNt
-- Victoria Ward (@victoria_ward) May 8, 2023 12:09PMIn pictures: Big Help Out in Green Park
Volunteers plant native wild plants in Green Park, central LondonCredit: Piroschka Van De Wouw/Reuters Over six million people are expected to join the Big Help Out on Monday Credit: Piroschka Van De Wouw/Reuters The latest figures show that there are over 52,000 registered Big Help Out events happening across the nation todayCredit: Piroschka Van De Wouw/Reuters10:42AM10.1 million tune in to Coronation Concert
The Coronation Concert on Sunday night was watched by an average of 10.1 million, overnight figures from the BBC show. The event had a peak audience of 12.3 million, the corporation said.
Kate Phillips, BBC Director of Unscripted, said: "Last night's Coronation Concert was an unforgettable evening of spectacular performances that brought us all together in celebration. "Against the stunning backdrop of Windsor Castle, the concert reflected many of the King's passions and highlighted the outstanding talent we have in the UK and beyond. Quoting a hit from the concert's closing act, Take That, she added: "We hope that viewers 'never forget' it!".
10:30AMPenny Lancaster: Tremendously proud to police Coronation
Penny Lancaster, is here on duty at the #Coronation pic.twitter.com/FoczqL6C8U
-- Chi Chi Izundu (@blondeafro) May 6, 2023Special constable Penny Lancaster has said she is "tremendously proud and honoured" to have been part of the police force working on Saturday for the King's coronation.
The former model and TV presenter, 52, who is married to Sir Rod Stewart, began volunteering with City of London Police after appearing in Channel 4 show Famous And Fighting Crime, in which celebrities swapped their day jobs with those of emergency service professionals. She later completed her training to become a special constable in April 2021. Lancaster told ITV's Good Morning Britain (GMB): "It was the most fabulous day and of course, tremendously proud and honoured to have been given that opportunity, along with the City of London Police, that I'm a special constable for."
10:16AMSix million expected to join Big Help Out
Over six million people are expected to join the Big Help Out on Monday as the Prime Minister hailed the initiative as a volunteering legacy for the Coronation, India McTaggart reports.
Just two days after the King's historic crowning in Westminster Abbey, the nation will join some members of the Royal family in lending their time and support to various charities and causes across the UK. Rishi Sunak said that he hopes the community volunteering taking place over the bank holiday will be "part of the legacy of this historic moment of national unity" and inspire people to continue in the years ahead. It came as the latest figures showed that there are over 52,000 registered Big Help Out events set to happen across the nation on Monday.
Read more here.
9:59AMWhat is the Big Help Out?
After the pomp and ceremony of the King's Coronation, the public is encouraged to give back to their local communities in a nationwide volunteering initiative, Matthew Robinson and India McTaggart write Devised to pay tribute to the King's many decades of public service, the Big Help Out aims to inspire people across the country to volunteer for the first time. Here, The Telegraph outlines everything you need to know about the Big Help Out scheme and how you can take part.
Read more here.
8:56AMRepublic chief brands arrests 'disgraceful'
Graham SmithRepublic chief executive Graham Smith has rejected suggestions that his arrest along with other protesters during the coronation was necessary to limit disruption, calling it "disgraceful". He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "That's not an excuse to rob people of their rights. It's not an excuse to arrest people and detain them for 16 hours because some people want to enjoy a party.
"That's a disgraceful suggestion and quite frankly this is a political issue and therefore obviously it's going to face protest." "They stopped us because the law was introduced, rushed in last week, to give them the powers to stop us on any flimsy pretext. "That law means we no longer in this country have the right to protest, we only have the freedom to protest contingent on the permission of senior police officers and politicians and it's my view that those senior police officers were under immense pressure from politicians."
8:40AMKing makes American Idol cameo
King Charles and Queen Camilla made a surprise cameo on American Idol on Sunday night.
The royals appeared as show judges Katy Perry and Lionel Richie, who performed at the Coronation Concert at Windsor Castle, appeared during a chat with host Ryan Seacrest. Mr Richie said: "Now we are trying to figure out what we can do to bring something different to the show. So, ...I have a surprise."
A laughing King Charles then said: "I just wanted to check how long you will be using this room for. I just wanted to check."
8:32AMThe Prince Harry stare that said: I've become a Spare part
It was the stare that spoke a thousand words about the broken bond between two once close royal brothers, Camilla Tominey writes. Diana, Princess of Wales, had insisted they be brought up as equals.
But as he was relegated to a third-row seat, The Princess Royal's hat obscuring his view, there was no mistaking the Duke of Sussex's sense of unease as he briefly glanced across to the Prince of Wales during their father's Coronation on Saturday.
Marking the first time Prince Harry has been in the same room as the King and the heir to the throne since the publication of his bombshell autobiography Spare, which was highly critical of the Royal family, it was never going to be an easy reunion. Read more here.
8:12AMPolice to face questions over Coronation arrests
The Metropolitan Police will face questioning over the arrests officers made during the King's Coronation amid concerns a clampdown affected the right to protest. Green politician Caroline Russell, who chairs the London Assembly's Police and Crime Committee, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "It seems absolutely extraordinary that those people who were volunteering, they were out there handing out flip flops to people who could no longer walk in their high heels because they'd had a bit too much to drink and handing out rape alarms.
Some of the arrests made by police as part of the Coronation event raise questions and whilst investigations are ongoing, I've sought urgent clarity from Met leaders on the action taken.
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-- Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan (@MayorofLondon) May 7, 2023"It just seems extraordinary that they got caught up in the Met's safety net. How? It just feels very odd."
"The Police and Crime Committee, we question the mayor, Mopac (Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime) and the Metropolitan Police, we meet every fortnight, so of course we will be questioning this because I'm sure members of all parties will want to have their questions answered."
8:06AMEastEnders street party in Albert Square
The cast of EastEnders will hold a coronation-themed street party in Albert Square on Monday to coincide with the Big Help Out. The public have been encouraged to take up hundreds of thousands of volunteering roles on the extra bank holiday with more than 1,500 charities involved. An app has been created to allow people to search for volunteering opportunities, ranging from helping the elderly to working with environmental charities and supporting animal welfare.
8:03AMCaribbean nation to initiate republic talks
St Kitts and Nevis will launch a consultation on whether it should become a republic as the country will never be "totally free" while the King remains head of state.
Prime Minister Dr Terrance Drew told the BBC a consultation would begin under his leadership. Speaking to the BBC in the St Kitts and Nevis capital Basseterre, Dr Drew said he would welcome an apology from the monarchy for its historic links to the slave trade "I think that acknowledging that... something wrong was done, acknowledging it and apologising for it, is a step in the right direction," he said.
It comes as two other nations, Belize and Jamaica, hinted at dropping the monarch as head of state, with the latter claiming it could hold referendum as early as 2024.