World's media take local flavour from King Charles III's coronation splendour

Global front pages debate role of UK's monarchy role and take interest in Prince Harry

Photos from Westminster Abbey and The Mall in London dominated front pages in the Philippines and around the world. AFP

Follow the latest news from the coronation of King Charles here

Photos of British pomp and splendour dominated the front pages of global newspapers on Sunday, as the world watched the UK's 1,000-year-old monarchy try to adapt to modern times at King Charles III's coronation.

Many foreign viewers welcomed the ceremony’s outreach to the many cultures represented in the UK, with King Charles praying for his subjects “of every faith”.

The Sunday edition of the New Indian Express said the coronation had a “distinct Indian flavour”.

“Topping the list was a reading from a biblical text by the UK’s Indian-origin Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak,” it said, before mentioning the role of Lord Narendra Patel, a British Hindu peer, in carrying the sovereign’s ring.

Elsewhere columnists felt the events were a relic of faded British glory and said the monarchy’s future remained in doubt.

The Saudi Gazette front page hailed the coronation of the 40th monarch in Westminster Abbey.

Jordanian newspaper Al Ghad led with pictures of King Abdullah II of Jordan and Queen Rania, who were among the dignitaries from more than 200 countries in the abbey.

Other regional coverage noted efforts to make the event as inclusive and reflective of 21st-century Britain as possible, with roles for leaders of the Muslim, Hindu, Jewish, Sikh and Buddhist faiths inside Westminster Abbey.

Israeli paper Haaretz spoke of a “very Jewish coronation” as it highlighted the involvement of Britain’s chief rabbi and the fact that King Charles was anointed with oil from the Holy Land.

In Commonwealth realms where King Charles is head of state, there was doubt about the future of the link to the British monarchy.

The front page of Canada’s Toronto Star said the king’s biggest challenge was “staying relevant in the new world”.

In Australia, the Sydney Morning Herald had a mixed verdict in its comment pages: “Charles’ big circus was majestic, but this king may not long reign over us”.

After the pomp of the coronation, the king and queen “will wake up to the reality that they are doomed to preside over a shrinking realm,” the article said.

There was much commentary on the contrast between the symbols of Britain’s past and the challenges it now faces after Brexit and a succession of economic crises.

The New York Times in the US said the coronation was a “royal spectacle of the kind that only Britain still stages” but that “unfolded with multiple concessions to the modern age”.

France’s Le Monde described the royal events as “tarnished” by the arrest of some anti-monarchy protesters from a group who had gathered with signs saying “Not My King”.

“The zeal with which the police arrested the republican activists who were peacefully demonstrating on the sidelines of the procession somewhat spoiled the demonstration of national unity that the ceremony was supposed to embody,” it said.

A lead article for Austria’s Tiroler Tageszeitung said the monarchy “is and remains an object of fascination” and noted that the former Habsburg rulers in Vienna sometimes inspire similar nostalgia.

“The semblance of an imperial world has a draw even for republicans in Britain and mainland Europe. There is a good case that the monarchy represents a parallel world to everyday life,” it said.

King Charles III's coronation — in pictures

There was also much interest in Prince Harry’s role at his first public appearance since the release of his memoir Spare.

German tabloid Bild, which ran 18 pages of coverage of the coronation, had a body language expert saying Prince Harry was “yearning for a hug” as he sat in the abbey without his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.

Italy’s La Repubblica had a story on “Harry’s hardest 150 metres” as he entered the abbey alone.

“Hardly anyone greeted him, he gave only a forced nods [and] many in the front row turned away,” it said, in a description of his “sad participation” in the ceremony.