‘No plans yet’ for King Charles III’s coronation

Culture secretary says she believes taxpayers think Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral was money ‘well spent’

No plans have been made as of yet for King Charles III’s coronation, a minister has said.

Michelle Donelan, the new culture secretary, said there had not been any decisions taken over the ceremony when asked whether it should be scaled down in the cost of living crisis.

She also suggested Queen Elizabeth II’s state funeral - which drew crowds to central London for a day of pageantry - was taxpayer money “well spent”.

There has not yet been a date set for the coronation of King Charles, who has flown to Scotland for the start of the royal mourning period.

On Tuesday, Ms Donelan was asked whether the ceremony should be scaled back in light of the cost of living crisis facing millions of Britons.

“We need to look at the plans on this and obviously the Palace and the King will have a great deal of input into this,” she told LBC.

“We only just finished our period of national mourning, so we haven’t done that yet, as you would expect. We will be considering everything, but we haven’t made these decisions yet.”

The culture secretary added it was “never a bad thing” to bring a community together.

A date has not yet been set for King Charles’ coronation (AFP via Getty Images)

The Queen’s state funeral took place in Westminster Abbey (AFP via Getty Images)

“We do want to give the nation a moment. When we look back at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth, it was a remarkable event where the country really came together,” she said.

“If you look back at the jubilee, how much we did for that and how the country came together. And it can in many ways boost the economy as well.”

Ms Donelan was also asked on Sky News on Tuesday how much the Queen’s funeral - which was a majestic display of pomp and pageantry and required one of the UK’s largest policing operations to date - cost the taxpayer.

Michelle Donelan says she thinks taxpayers would argue the Queen’s state funeral was money ‘well spent’ (Victoria Jones/PA) (PA Wire)

The government did not yet have the total figure, she said, adding: “But I think the taxpayer would argue it was money well spent.”

On Monday, hundreds of thousands descended on central London to catch a glimpse of the state funeral - attended by world leaders and royalty - and the coffin’s procession to Wellington Arch.

The Queen was later buried in a private ceremony at Windsor Castle on the same day.