Not My King Protest, Coronation Day, Trafalgar Square by Michael Wayne Plant

On the day of King Charles III’s coronation, I went to Trafalgar Square intending to photograph the crowds gathered to witness the ceremony. Instead, I encountered a large green security fence cutting across the space, separating those permitted access from those kept outside. Many who had arrived expecting to participate in a moment of national significance found themselves unable to see anything of the procession.

The presence of the barrier reshaped the atmosphere of the square. What might have been experienced as a shared public celebration became defined by restriction and managed visibility. Disappointment was evident. People stood, waited and moved through the area searching for a vantage point that did not exist.

Earlier in the day, protestors had marched through central London and eventually gathered in Trafalgar Square. They were not physically contained, but their presence was closely monitored by a substantial police deployment. Officers maintained a visible and deliberate watch, clearly alert to the possibility of disruption on a day intended to project order and ceremony.

The configuration of space intensified a sense of division. Members of the public were funnelled through narrow pedestrian routes between the security fencing and the monitored protest. The coronation itself remained unseen; what was visible were the mechanisms of crowd control, surveillance and public management.

While television coverage emphasised pageantry and unity, the experience in the square revealed a more complex reality — one shaped by access, exclusion and careful orchestration of public space. Unable to witness the ceremony directly, I focused on what was present: the disappointed crowds, the protestors, and the structures that organised the day.

All images copyright © Michael Wayne Plant.