79 per cent of university students say they won’t watch King Charles’ coronation

In Glasgow, just 10 per cent are going to be tuning in

12 months ago

Four out of five university students say they won’t be tuning in to watch the coronation of King Charles III this weekend, The Tab has found.

More than 11,000 students from 23 UK universities voted in The Tab’s survey to show the extent of royal apathy among students.

From the 11,169 students who took part, just 2,318 (21 per cent) said they would watch the coronation this weekend amid the 8,851 (79 per cent) who said they would not.

King Charles’ coronation might be the first in more than 70 years but students aren’t expected to watch it.

Among the universities where viewing figures are lowest, nine out of 10 students at Glasgow University won’t be watching. The figure is equally low at Manchester where 12 per cent say they will be watching and 13 per cent at Liverpool.

Disinterest in Scotland isn’t restricted to Glasgow. At the University of Edinburgh, 17 per cent of students surveyed said they would watch the two hour ceremony which begins on Saturday at 11am.

All in all it makes for grim viewing for King Charles. His former university, Cambridge, might boast some of the most promising student viewing figures but the percentage who say they’ll be watching is only slightly over a quarter.

Joe, a final year student at Newcastle University, confessed he is not going to watch the coronation.

“I don’t have time to sit and watch live TV for hours on end. I wouldn’t necessarily call myself an anti-royalist or a royalist, in my eyes they are just celebrities. I find their lives fascinating but that’s about it.”

Joe is among the 79 per cent of Newcastle University students who said they won’t be watching the coronation. The third year journalism student added: “If there’s anything that will interest me about the event, I guarantee it will come up on my TikTok soon after.”

Warwick University student Chris, is also in his final year. However the third year English student is a big fan of celebrities. “I do like Hollywood, I do like celebrities,” Chris said. “For example, I love the Met gala, but with the royal family, they just seem so archaic and old fashioned.”

“It’s funny to me that a group of elites are being worshipped so much. The royal family is just so old fashioned and out of touch. It feels like I’m worshipping a colonial system of power.”

For Mia, a second year English student at Leeds University, she is equally uncomfortable by the royal family’s relationship with Britain’s colonial past.

“I don’t think I’ll be watching it,” she said. “I’ve just never really had a liking for the royal family and a part of that feels a bit personal. I’m British but I’m also Indian and there’s quite a controversial history with Britain stealing from India so knowing that has tainted my view of the royal family.

“I think they are outdated, I don’t see their purpose in the country apart from tourism reasons – I don’t think they are necessary anymore.”

However Mia understands why people will choose to watch the coronation. “I don’t hate them [the royal family] I understand why people would watch them because it’s this big historical moment,” she said.

She also pointed out her grandparents, who are Indian, are “very excited” to watch the coronation which she said shows “not all Indians hate them [the British] for what they did”. “It’s funny how it’s generational,” she added.

Like Mia, Joe is going to be focusing on his uni work on Saturday rather than watching the coronation. The last royal event he watched was Prince Phillip’s funeral in 2021 as “I was at home with my mum who appreciates anything related to the royals.”

Explaining why he thinks there’s such a generational divide between those watching the coronation and those who won’t, Joe said: “I think when my mum was growing up there was still three maybe four channels and there was not escaping the view that the royals are very important people are we are obliged to watch.

“Whereas my generation has the freedom to watch anything, at any time and hear alternative opinions on platforms that didn’t exist then and base their own opinions of the royal family from that.”