UK Citizens Are Eager to See King Charles III Coronation Amidst Economic Crisis

The coronation of Charles III is scheduled on May 6, but full-scale preparations are already underway.

While people are preparing to celebrate, holding a big traditional ceremony, the UK budget is also bracing - for a major blow, since the coronation will be funded by British taxpayers.

According to some calculations, the ceremony alone will cost around £100 million ($124 m). Moreover, according to Department for Culture, Media and Sport calculations, the addition of Bank Holiday weekend will cost the country roughly £2.4 billion (almost $3 billion).

Follow Sputnik's gallery to learn more about the upcoming event!

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Tourists sit on a Coronation Tour Bus, in London. The May 6 coronation is luring royal fans and far-flung visitors fascinated by the ceremonial spectacle — and drama — of the monarchy and eager to experience a piece of British history. Tour companies, shops and restaurants are rolling out the red carpet, whether it's a decked-out bus tour of London's top sights boasting high tea or merchandise running from regal to tat.

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Coronation plates and cups are displayed for sale in a gift shop in London on Monday.

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A worker uses a lawn mower to cut the grass of a garden in front of Buckingham Palace, central London.

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Philip Hamond, designer florist at the Dorchester Hotel, works alongside a display showing a Coronation themed cake and floral arrangements in London. The Dorchester Hotel, long a favorite with royals and celebrities, concocted a lavish, five-tier coronation cake and put up theater-style draping across its facade to re-create the decorations that it used to mark Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation in 1953 in preparation for King Charles III's coronation.

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A tourist sits on a Coronation Tour Bus in London.

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Yeoman Warder stand guard during the opening ceremony of the Tower of London, to the public as they wear their new uniform with changes to reflect Britain's King Charles III’s insignia ahead of his coronation.

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A staff member prepares afternoon tea for the new Coronation Tour Bus en route, in London, Monday.

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Workers set the sitting tribune by Buckingham Palace, in central London.

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A worker paints the finish on official chinaware in a pottery in Stoke on Trent. A range of official chinaware produced in Stoke-on-Trent by Royal Collection Trust, a department of the Royal Household, is already on sale.

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A facade mimicking the 1953 coronation decor by Oliver Messel, decorates the Dorchester Hotel in London, Thursday.

UK Braces for Charles III's Coronation