After two days of celebrations, first very solemn Saturday with the coronation at Westminster Abbey and then more festive Sunday with thousands of neighborhood lunches and a big concert, Monday is placed under the sign of volunteering.

Hundreds of thousands of volunteer missions are to be filled with the more than 1,500 associations that participate in this "Big Help Out".

King Charles and Queen Camilla will not attend, but other members of the royal family are expected to make an appearance. William and Kate are for example expected with scouts and Prince Edward - brother of the king - and his wife Sophie are in Reading (west London) with an association of training of guide dogs.

Monday was declared a public holiday to conclude the long coronation weekend of Charles III, consecrated Saturday in his role as monarch after a lavish religious ceremony and procession.

Eight months after his accession to the throne on the death of his mother Elizabeth II, Charles III, 74, was crowned at Westminster Abbey in front of 2,300 guests according to a thousand-year-old Anglican rite. His wife Camilla, 75, was also blessed and crowned.

It was the first coronation in 70 years, when Elizabeth II was crowned queen in 1953.

More than 14 million viewers - far fewer than at the Queen's funeral - watched live on the BBC as the heavy crown of St. Edward was placed on Charles' head.

On Sunday, the British held tens of thousands of neighborhood lunches. A big concert, featuring stars like Katy Perry and Lionel Richie, took place in the evening in front of Windsor Castle.


Arrests criticised

Unmotivated by this coronation, more than 70% of Britons had no intention of participating in any celebration this weekend, according to a recent YouGov poll.

Charles is less popular than his mother Elizabeth and anti-monarchists demonstrated Saturday in London at the passage of carriages, as well as in Scotland and Wales. Some 15% of Britons think the monarchy should be abolished.

Six leaders of the anti-monarchy Republic group, including its leader Graham Smith, were arrested by police on Saturday morning, drawing sharp criticism. They were released late Saturday night.

On the BBC, Graham Smith on Monday strongly criticized the law that came into force this week and gives more means to the police to arrest people suspected of wanting to cause "serious disturbance" to public order.

"They arrested us because the law was hastily introduced last week to give them the power to arrest us under any futile pretext," he said.

"This law means that we no longer have the right to protest in this country, we only have a freedom to demonstrate with the permission of police and politicians."

In total, London police made 64 arrests on the day of the king's coronation, including environmental activists.

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