More than 20 million people in the United Kingdom tuned in to watch King Charles III’s coronation on Saturday, but the ceremony attracted far fewer British viewers than his mother’s funeral last year. Average viewing figures for the two-hour service at Westminster Abbey — the main part of the Saturday ceremony during which the King was crowned — reached 18.8 million, according to data provided by the UK Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board .
Cameras were installed in Westminster Abbey for the first time to cover that coronation, which the BBC has described as the first mass television event in the UK. Charles III’s coronation also underperformed compared with the wedding of his eldest son in 2011. The wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton attracted a peak viewership of 20 million on the BBC, at the end of the ceremony in Westminster Abbey, according to the broadcaster.