Locals look forward to King Charles III's coronation

Jeanette Lawson, associate director of development for KRCU Public Radio in Cape Girardeau, is a British subject who has lived in the U.S. since 1985.

Lawson said she was planning to watch the formal crowning Saturday, May 6, of King Charles III on television, but when she discovered the coronation service started at 4 a.m. Cape Girardeau time, she said she will watch a recording of the event instead.

"(The coronation) is not as big a deal for me as it was for Charles' mother in June 1953," said Lawson, who is originally from Scotland. "There's been a lot of discontent with Charles and his family, and with what happened between him and (Princess) Diana. I don't think he's admired and loved the way the queen was."

Robert W. Hamblin, a part of Southeast Missouri State University's English Department for more than a half-century, taught in England during the university's Missouri-London program in 1990 and 2001,

Like Lawson, he does not intend to interrupt his sleep to observe the proceedings.

Retired Southeast Missouri State University English professor Robert Hamblin taught in England during the university's Missouri-London program. Hamblin said he is looking forward to watching the coronation of King Charles III on Saturday, May 6, on television.Jeff Long

Retired Southeast Missouri State University English professor Robert Hamblin taught in England during the university's Missouri-London program. Hamblin said he is looking forward to watching the coronation of King Charles III on Saturday, May 6, on television.Jeff Long

"I'll watch the reruns," said Hamblin, who calls himself an "Anglophile," adding he understands the British people's fascination with the event.

"The people spend a lot of money to keep a monarch who makes one speech a year — a speech written entirely by the prime minister and his staff. The king is a figurehead, but the British seem to love him. For me, it's fun to watch the pageantry," the longtime educator said.

Jeanette Lawson, associate director of development for Cape Girardeau's KRCU Public Radio, has lived in the U.S. since 1985, but is a British subject and a native of Scotland.Submitted

Jeanette Lawson, associate director of development for Cape Girardeau's KRCU Public Radio, has lived in the U.S. since 1985, but is a British subject and a native of Scotland.Submitted

Hamblin said he and his late wife, Kaye, happened to be in London on two important occasions.

"We were there when the queen mother, Elizabeth II's mother, died, and we were also in town when Princess Margaret died," he said.

"Kaye and I went through the queue and signed the condolence book at St. James Chapel. It's very exciting to see how the British treat the royal family. It's so different than anything we have on this side of the pond."

Lawson said when it comes time for the traditional song, "God Save the King" — a staple of an event of this kind in Great Britain — she will not be singing the lyrics.

"When the British national anthem was originally written, if you go way back, there's a verse in there negative toward the Scots — so my people have never wanted to join in when that song is sung," she said.

King Charles III immediately ascended to the British throne upon the death of his mother, Elizabeth II, on Sept. 8.