While King Charles III will be crowned on May 6, the organization of the event does not seem to be quite ready since bell ringers are missing to mark the occasion, as revealed by RTL, Tuesday, April 4.
In almost a month, on May 6th, King Charles III will be crowned during an important ceremony. But the organization of this great event, which will probably be followed all over the world, does not seem to be completely tied up. As announced by our colleagues of RTL, Tuesday April 4, the United Kingdom seems to face a shortage of bell ringers. For several months now, the British have been trying to find volunteers ready to ring the church bells during the famous coronation of the monarch, and this, for a period of between 45 minutes and 3 hours 30 minutes.
This could be a problem if a solution is not found soon, as it takes several weeks to train the ringers for this activity. The number of volunteers needed is ambitious, to say the least, as it amounts to 38,000. The call for applications goes back to the fall of 2022, and since then only 1,500 people have said yes to the proposal. Not all of them have completed their commitment to the British royalty and some are still in long training to be ready before May 6. On the English platform “Ring for the King”, created especially for the occasion, it is specified that becoming a bell ringer is not given to everyone either.
An apprenticeship of more than 15 hours
“The first lessons focus on developing the skills needed to handle a bell: the technique to control the bell with the rope. This is done on a one-on-one basis with your qualified instructor and is often done on a silent bell. This initial skill can take 10 to 15 hours to acquire,” reads the site in question, as reported by RTL. That’s not all, as volunteers will then have to agree to take classes each week in order to play it collectively at the event by learning to “ring with others.” But it seems that the short time left before the crowning does not allow new volunteers to take up this great challenge. So some churches in the UK will have to be content with remaining silent.
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