In Australia, several commentators slammed the coronation, with one famous journalist stating the crown “represented invasion, land theft, and the extermination of Indigenous people.”
Guests included Stan Grant, a Wiradjuri man who has worked in the media for over 30 years, during ABC’s coverage of the event.
When questioned about the ceremony and what it meant to Indigenous people, he made his feelings known.
‘The crown is not above politics to us, because the symbol of that crown represented invasion, the theft of land, and in our case, the exterminating war,’ he said.
He also said: ‘In the name of that crown martial law was declared on my people.’
Speaking about how Australia was the ‘only’ Commonwealth nation in the world who did not sign a treaty, Grant questioned where the ‘recognition’ of what happened ‘under the name of the crown was’.

‘It holds weight for First Nations people because that crown was put on us and it still holds a weight,’ he said.
‘We must come to terms with these truths.’
He stated that at a time when the country is debating whether to recognise First Nations people in the constitution and whether to become a republic, talks regarding the crown and its legacy “needed to be had.”
Former professional soccer player Craig Foster, who is now the chair of the Australian Republican Movement, seconded his comments.
During the coverage, Foster stated that the monarch and royal family had “always been immune to criticism and questioning.”
‘Some people here say this is benign pageantry and we should just enjoy the show but the reality of it is that as Indigenous and anti-slavery groups across the country are telling us as well is that this [crown] has a malignant past and an element that is painful and about suffering for hundreds of millions of people,’ he said.
‘We’ve never been able to recognise that and it’s always been about denial.’

He stated that following the’sad departure’ of the late Queen Elizabeth last year, discussions concerning ‘accountability’ were taking place.
‘At the heart of the wound in this nation is the crown and yet it has been above reproach and question,’ he added.
‘People feel uncomfortable because we are trying to extend some respect to this institution that we recognise has made a significant contribution to the country at the same time are walking this journey and learning about what actually happened.
‘This day is historically significant because it may and I hope that this may well be the start of a different Australia and the end of the final element of the British Empire.’
Their comments drew a lot of attention online, with many individuals astonished by the talks taking place during the coronation telecast.
‘Holy s*** this was not what I was expecting from the ABC coronation coverage – Stan Grant and Craig Foster absolutely going OFF on the monarchy and the Empire and its legacy of genocide and pain,’ one person posted on Twitter.
‘Holy s*** Stan Grant is ripping into the crown, and it is amazing,’ someone else said.
While some disliked the statements, others believed the ABC provided fair perspectives.
‘It provide an insight into the traditions of the coronation but also some views from Indigenous people and republicans. This is balance and not sycophancy,’ another person wrote on the social media site.


Many others spoke out about the coronation in the run-up to the event, including model and contributing British Vogue editor Munroe Bergdorf, who claimed it was’sickening’ timing given the continuing cost of living issue.
She also attacked the use of government funds to support the event, and encouraged the King to foot the cost personally out of inheritance following his mother’s death, in a message sent on Twitter by a director called Stuart Warwick.
‘Over 14.4 million people in the UK can’t afford to eat every day. 25% of London is in poverty. 4 million children are experiencing food poverty,’ she wrote.
She added that whether people were pro or anti monarchy, she didn’t understand how ‘in the midst of a cost of living crisis, national worker strikes, soaring inflation, escalating poverty and food bank usage’ that ‘taxing the poor for an aristo party is anything but a gauche, out of touch and quite frankly obscene display of wealth and power, during an increasingly desperate time for so many’.