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narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solions for america's neglected needs. and by contributions to this pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. announcer: and now, "bbc news". >> i'm chriian frazi. this is a coronation edition of the context. king charles makes a surprise visit to fans waiting with the prince and princess of wales. >> excited, nervous, a big day ahead. >> westminster abbey has turned out fit for a king. the dignitaries and heads of

state arrive in london. 100 expected at the coronation tomorrow. we are here live tonight at buckingham palace on the eve of a historic day. the coronation of king charles and queen camilla. we will talk to historians, aristocrats, and artists about what coronation means for them and the rest of the u.k., and those watching around the world. we will talk to people who love the monarchy and who want to abolish it. talking about what is going on in london. the king and queen hosting reception at the palace before tomorrow's ceremony. around 100 heads of state will be in london for the coronation

with representatives from more than 200 countries. in the last hour, these pictures have been coming in from westminster abbey. it gives you an idea of how it looks for tomorrow's ceremony. ornate chairs, deep red taking center stage. the coronation chair. earlier, king charles, the de a surprise appearance, greeting crowds coming out ahead of the coronation. charles going down the right-hand side. william and kate went down the other. they spent about half an hour talking to people. many camping out despite the rain to save a spot for the big day. here is some of king charles walkabout. >> we came from america.

>> i came here from bangkok. >> i know you very much, good luck. >> very colorful outfits on the mild today. you may have seen the flags. you might see flags and the pomp

and ceremony tomorrow. >> what about you and william? >> what about king charles? >> i'm looking forward to it. >> hello to everyone who has stayed out for so long. do you stay out overnight? >> we are here every day. >> are you tired? >> a bit. >> it is really great moments. >> no doubt the young royals

will be part of the focus. prince george has a part to play. some nerves about that the princess of wales is open about. let's listen to what prince william had to say. >> you have been here before -- very impressed. a lot of partying will be going

on. cash nice to see you guys. >> not the first time for many. some people at the top, the diehard royals. no dissenting voices. he is the leader in the public, once the u.k. to be able to elect the head of state as we had at the moment. welcome to the program. where will you be tomorrow? >> we have quite a lot of people, 1500 to 2000 people pledging to come down to protest alongside the square. we hope we will be impossible to ignore as the procession goes to the abbey and all the way back. >> people able to see behind us, it is very tight. locked down ahead of the procession. have you had an open conversation?

>> we have talked to the police since january. speaking with the senior commanders and other conversations. they have no concerns about our protest. anyone who wants to come down, we propose them to come down. peaceful protests. we have no plan to disrupt the procession at all. we want to get across the point that there is a sizable opposition and we object to the coronation and the monarchy. >> i want to talk about a letter sent to you at the early part of the week. the law has changed, police have more power to crack down on protest that disrupt the way people go about their lis. did you feel threatened by the letter? >> it is not their job to do the policing. we can only assume they re trying to deter us from doing

the protest. the laws don't impact on what we are doing. people who wanted to protest around the time of the late queens funeral in such a reaction, they were arrested. there is a time and place. you can be a royalist and defender of free speech and the ability to protest. do you still feel able to do that? >> yes, the arrests after the queens death or appalling. near the view was it was individu making mistakes for the mark. one of them was charged and the charges dropped. it is a worry.

they have been clear with us, and when the letter came out, we had fun people who support the monarchy. >> let me push it the other way. the excitement and hast -- happiness of people who come to the mile who are royalists. this is a celebration of royalty. is it the right place to be protesting? >> it is absolutely. only 9%, a city of nine print -- 9 million people, 67 million. not a huge indication. the polling is quite clear that people are not interested. spending a quarter of a billion pounds. the figures that have come out said it rings true with the

level of security with people coming in overseas. they would have more to it -- multimillion pound bills. >> the people visiting and spending money -- >> the figures show that when you have theseig events, we would come to see the event stays away. the evidence is -- we object to it because it is the principal. the institution doesn't live up to a higher stance. >> when people are asked this question about what replaces the royal family, they don't always necessary like the alternatives. or you have a head of state

chosen by political parties. in 1999, the vote was split because people could not decide what they wanted as an alternative. what you get in israel, split politics. >> i think they've got other problems. they still have a prime minister who leads. europe, parliamentary republics with heads of state, take what we have come of the fully elected prime minister. you elect someone to guard independent of the government. they will only do with the premise or tells him. not provide guarantees for the constitution. it should be on a matter of principle top to bottom.

in germany, finland, all over the place. some are exceptional and have been elected by the people. >> there is a place for that. thank you for coming along. >> it is much quieter here tonight. you would have seen people milling around, a lot of curious people to see what is going on. the victoria monument has been loed down. special event cameras in position for the big day. this grant empathy at her where people will be sitting tomorrow. veterans, charities invited, a magnificent setting truly looking at a fantastic. we just talked about those who

don't like royalties. let's talk to someone who most definitely does like royalty. someone who knows the king very well. he has been to a coronation party this week with the king. he's from poland. i hope to get your name right -- >> how did y manage that -- >> i know the producer. how do you know the king? >> i know him very well. over 20 years i met his majesty, the prince of wales. we had a very nice meeting in one of our palaces. many times i was invited to some parties, buckingham palace, or i saw pond very, one of the jewels by his majesty.

the privilege, honor, and pleasure to be at the coronation party in the third. >> i never asked somebody, are you a polish noble. >> this is a title in the family since 1647. our family is quite old. about 1000 years we have already. we were very much involved in politics, the polish culture, many marshals, people of the army in my family. the proclamation of dependence of the first war -- first world war was done by my uncle. >> he secured independence for

poland? >> yes. >> and you were school friends with the president? >> high school friends. he is a little older than me. >> there are people here who don't think we should have a head there -- what would you say? people look at the european royalty and say that is the model for us. they call tm the bicycle monarchs. very low-key, low-budget. it's a that is what we should have. >> i would say how many countries are kingdoms now. spain, much closer to the british monarchy and you are talking more about the nordic states like sweden, norway, the netherlands.

but the other kingdoms are perhaps very modern and the countries are modern. i would not say perhaps as low-budget as everyone thinks. on the other hand, the kingdom can be cheaper than the elections because it costs money also. >> we discussed the coronation context of the cost-of-living crisis. on a slightly different level, you have talked about the cost of living with the king, more about the cost of maintaining castles. this is a passion you share. my windows need replacing. but i don't have what may be you do. what sort of things do you discuss? >> it is not a passion, i would say a burden. but a fantastic tradition.

i treat myself as somebody showing this tradition of my family to all of the polish citizens. this is the idea his majesty in england has more or less peace that they are not only his, but this is important, he's doing such incredible work at the dumfries house. it is incredle, he's developing the environment and drops for the young people. he is really my role model in that. >> a great pleasure to meet you. will you be at the coronation? >> no, there was. and i'm too high. >> lovely to see you. thank you for coming. >> while king charles succeeded his mother as the head of the commonwealth, the future of a

monarch living in the u.k. also the head of state of other independent commonwealth countries around the world is being called into question. barbados has already become a republic. other nations preparing their own referendum. among them is jamaica or an outline to transition to a republic is one up. i'm joined by -- at westminster abbey. the king has had a busy day. he's been meeting 50 plus leaders from around the commonwealth. there's a question about whether the commonwealth needs a monarchy, whether the monarchy needs the commonwealth. >> or whether the commonwealth can be a group of countries that cooperate together around the world that don't necessarily have to have some of the members having the king as their head of state.

it surprises people that they are still the head of state of other countries beyond the united kingdom. one being canada. the expert on canadian constitutional law. thank you very much for joining me. i know you are helping jamai work on its transition to a republic and you would like to see canada get rid of king charles as its head of state. we will talk about jamaica. canada, the opinion polls, and what you are trying to do. >> it is a pleasure to be with you. i am a canadian. i look around the world in awe and admiration of my commonwealth cousins who had the courage to do what i wish my own country would do, which is to delink link ourselves from the monarchy that is colonialist, elitist, and racist, at least

historically. i look abroad and admiration. >> i was looking at the opinion polls. until fairly recently, a vy favorable view of the monarchy. i know it has been declining. does it depend who is sitting on the throne? how do they feel about king william, what do they read into the polls of canada. >> a recent poll reported that 60% of canadians across the country oppose king charles being our monarch. that's quite jarring. the day before the coronation for angry street. >> 60% of the country opposes having the uk's monarch as

canada's head of state. why not decide to do something differently? >> it is very complex for us to delink ourselves from the monarchy, our constitution is very specific about what is required under law to make this chge. we have to amend our constitution. the world's most difficult constitution to amend, not only do we need approval from parliament, we need approval from each of the 10 provincial legislative assemblies. that is a lot. we have never successfully used that procedure to our former constitution. >> so you can't do what barbados did and get rid of the british monarch as the head of state? that is not as simple as what barbados did? >> barbados' constitution allowed to make that change by a

simple majority vote. a two thirds supermajority vote in the parliament. they were able to do it because they had the political will to do it. people were behind their elected representatives. in canada, more complex. the law tells us we need these majorities from all political actors, institutions around the country. you mentioned a referendum. we have to use a referendum because we set the historical preset at that requires us to use referendum any time we engage in a major national constitutional reform. >> joining us, a constitutional law expert. thank you for joining us. it is a complicated situation. king charles recognizes he will not be head of state of the number of countries he's currently head of state. i heard it does not bother him particularly, that direction of

the untries heading. whether in canada because they have this complicated constitutional situation, we don't know. tomorrow, a strong canadian delegation of westminster abbey of people presumably who do support king charles being there king. >> i would love to have been a fly on the wall. the jamaican leadership is there. you wonder if they talk openly about it. the king follows events very closely within the commonwealth. he knows what the conversation is. he knows the direction of travel. clients gathering overhead. i'm thinking about the people out there on the mile. they have to pack up their tents earlier for the security. how are they going to keep dry? >> tents are back up.

three or four deep on the mound. it is such a nice atmosphere this evening. friday night in central london. people sharing a drink, taking photos. people from all over the world. the u.k., the u.s., australia, thailand. you meet someone from everyone in the corner of the globe. >> i'm ready, have got my bed, slight substance to help me through the night. sandwiches thanks to my wife. i'm looking forward to tomorrow. i think we should say god bless king charles. >> your blanket is fantastic. very patriotic. i'm worried it is thin. >> i've got more, don't worry. i will be fine. >> that looks like a comfy bed. >> jackie, carol. how are you doing? >> lifelong friends.

>> absolutely. it is on our bucket list. just decided to just come. >> you have your patriotic glasses of wine. >> absolutely. a lovely tent. we will sleep the night and just have fun. >> the atmosphere y.ovso >> we are having fun, made friends with people behind us. >> great -- great fun. >> you got your picnic and supplies. well-stocked up. >> why did you decide to camp down overnight? >> we came before, we thought why not do it again.

>> it really is such a fun atmosphere. peop have never met before, becoming friends, sharing a drink. >> it is where all of the atmosphere is tonight. we will take a short break. do stay with us. narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: financl services firm, raymond james. man: bdo. accountants and advisors. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. by judy and peter blum kovler foundati; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. and by contributions to this pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ♪ ♪

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♪ ♪ narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... woman: architect. bee keeper. mentor. a raymond james financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life well planned. george: actually, you don't need vision to do most things in life. it's exciting to be part of a team driving the technology forward. i think that's the most rewarding thing. people who know, know bdo.