NICK.BROOK@cluthaleader.co.nz
Celebration of the coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla was alive and well across Clutha last weekend with high tea and royal regalia resplendent at schools, retirement homes and clubs.
Clutha Views Lifecare & Village in Balclutha threw a cucumber-sandwich and cream-scone high tea last Friday afternoon complete with posh-frocks and impressive hats.
‘‘It’s the spectacle and pageantry . . . the last coronation was beautiful,’’ resident Shirley McNutt said.
‘‘And not all that long after, the main street of Balclutha was full of people out to wave as the Queen drove past on her way to Invercargill . . . My husband and I went to Buckingham Palace about 30 years ago and saw the Queen at her window and the young princes with their mother . . . it seemed like most of the people outside with us were Kiwis.’’ Asked about changing attitudes to the monarchy, Mrs McNutt and her friends discussed what the royals still had to offer.
‘‘People aren’t brought up to look up to the Royals like we were,’’ Margaret Smith said.
‘‘The late Queen was very good with setting an example of dignity, respect and manners and I don’t know if Charles will live up to that . . . They’re only human but they have to try harder because of who they are.’’
Of seventeen Clutha district schools asked whether they would be marking the occasion, only five confirmed they were, but tiaras twinkled and cloaks billowed as the Balclutha Park Runners returned to Naish Park after their coronation-day run.
‘‘There’s a lot of republican sentiment around these days, and that’s fine,’’ one runner who asked not to be named said.
‘‘But just because some don’t approve doesn’t meant they should be trying to cancel others from celebrating or paying their respects.’’
