Is Britain preparing for a new era?

On Thursday, elections for Britain’s local officials. On Saturday, King Charles III’s coronation. As milestones go, the two could hardly have had less in common, yet each, in its own way, confirmed a Britain on the cusp of change, in both politics and the monarchy.

The stinging defeat of the Conservatives last week suggested that Britain’s governing party could be swept from power in the next general election, after 13 years of Conservative rule. And the crowning of Charles definitively turned the page from the reign of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, and thrust the monarchy into an uncertain future.

Change is not assured, of course. Charles, at 74, could prove to be a more cautious figure than his biographers expect, and the Conservatives could yet cling to power. But longer-term trends run strongly against the Conservatives, and polls show that many Britons, particularly younger ones, view the royal family as irrelevant and question the need for it.

Analysis: “The country is in a waiting room,” said Simon Schama, a British historian. “People are saying, ‘Let’s give our peculiar new king a chance,’ while the prospect of an election pacifies a lot of the frustration and rage that people would otherwise feel.” 

Coronation: Charles had promised a thoroughly 21st-century ceremony, but when push came to shove he took his place on a 13th-century throne, writes Sarah Lyall, who has long covered the royal family for The Times.