Charles' coronation seized on by republicans as chance to ditch monarchy

FILE PHOTO: Britain's King Charles and Camilla, Queen Consort wave as they attend the Maundy Thursday Service at York Minster, in York, Britain, April 6, 2023. REUTERS/Phil Noble

LONDON (Reuters) - When King Charles III is crowned in a lavish ceremony next week, Britain's main anti-monarchist movement will gather along the procession route next to a statue of Charles I, who was beheaded in 1649, leading to a short-lived republic.

Supporters of Republic, a group founded in 1983 that campaigns for an elected head of state, are planning their biggest ever protest. They believe Charles' accession to the throne presents their best chance of ending the monarchy, which traces its history back more than 1,000 years.