TEHRAN- As Britain prepares to crown King Charles in a costly ceremony on Saturday, public support for the institution hits a historic low.

The British public have been asked to pledge allegiance to King Charles, who has taken over the hereditary public office, when he is crowned on Saturday.

People have been told to say the words: "I swear that I will pay true allegiance to Your Majesty, and to your heirs and successors according to law - so help me God."

The Archbishop of Canterbury has called on those watching or listening to the costly ceremonial coronation to take part in a "great cry around the nation and around the world of support for the King". 

The plan has been strongly condemned by anti-monarchy groups. 

This comes on the backdrop of a new study, which has revealed that fewer than one in three believe the monarchy is "very important".

The National Center for Social Research (NatCen) which has released the research says it collected the data during 2022 and 2023, and is identifying changes in attitudes towards the royal family.

NatCen says those who deem the monarchy to be very important has dropped to its lowest point of 29% since it began collecting data 40 years ago. Almost half of the British public now believe it is time for the monarchy to be abolished completely.

The latest research is reflective of a longer-term trend of declining support for the monarchy. As the king’s coronation approaches, a YouGov poll this month revealed that 64% of the public don’t care very much or care at all about the pompous ceremony, while only 9% care a great deal.

It is estimated that the coronation (a tradition that dates back to a thousand years) will cost up to £100 million, in addition to £369 million for a refurbishment of Buckingham Palace with gold-plated bells and whistles, among other things.  

As with all royal events and palace refurbishments, the bill will be picked up by taxpayers’ money.

This comes at a time when British households are facing a cost-of-living crisis amid record inflation levels in the aftermath of the Ukraine war that erupted last year.

Critics argue that there is no constitutional requirement to hold a coronation in the first place, as Charles was declared King after the Queen’s death at the accession council.

Anti-monarchy movements have also argued the real purpose of the event, which will see the placing of a crown being placed upon the monarch's head and a family being driven around in gold coaches, is purely a PR stunt for the monarchy to polish its public image.

A monarchy that they view as super rich, powerful and influential behind the scenes, with no democratic values attached to it whatsoever.

Both King Charles and his son, Prince William, have private estates that are worth more than £1 billion. Which raises the question of why the king can't foot the bill for his own coronation.

An investigation by The Guardian found the opaque finances of the royal family and has put the king's personal wealth at almost 2 billion pounds ($2.5 billion).

The main argument among supporters of the British royal family is that the monarchy brings in tourists, which in turn brings in revenue.

But tourists don't shake hands with the royal family when they visit Buckingham Palace. And they can still visit the massive palace without the monarchy, perhaps even more tourists can get in if the royal family wasn't there. Also, is the British parliament seriously basing its constitutional priorities on what the tourists want.

The monarchy, as has been revealed in several reports, enjoy significant lobbying power to influence both domestic and foreign policy while also changing the law in their favor to take as much public money as they can and pay out as little as possible from their own pockets.

Apart from the power and pomp that comes with this unelected institution, along with not paying certain taxes, it does pretty much nothing else.

In the newest poll, among the younger generation, only 12% of 18- to 34-year-olds view the monarchy as “very important”. There is an increasing number in this generation that question the relevance of this system of governance.

In his autobiography, King Charles's second son prince Harry, boasted about how many people he had killed when he briefly joined the British Army Air Corps in the war on Afghanistan.

This is how the United Kingdom projects its version of democracy to the rest of the world, in this case Afghanistan by sending a prince to fire at and kill Afghans from an Apache helicopter.

The British monarchy has a dark history of its once military colonial rule around the world and the suffering which that colonialism brought to tens of millions of people, which seriously puts into question the credibility of this household.

But even in modern history, apart from Prince Harry's bizarre public admission, King Charles, as head of the British Army, was formerly head of its parachute regiment when he was prince. This is the same regiment that committed multiple massacres in Northern Ireland against unarmed civilians in the 1970's.

Meanwhile, the growing anti-monarchy movement Republic has accused the British state-funded broadcaster the BBC of lacking impartiality in its recent coverage of the royal family ahead of the coronation.

The campaign group, which states that it wants “to see the monarchy abolished and the King replaced with an elected, democratic head of state,” has accused the broadcaster of failing to hold the monarchy to account.

Republic has accused the BBC of failing “to give voice to a reasonable balance of views on the issue”.

In a letter to the state-owned media, Republic chief executive Graham Smith said “evidence suggests the BBC not only fails to be impartial, but makes no attempt to be impartial or balanced and, most shockingly, openly colludes with the palace in its coverage.”

“It should be a source of deep shame for all those involved that, instead of such fearless reporting, we have insipid, vacuous and dishonest coverage from a BBC that is fearful of public opprobrium and palace influence.”

“A recent YouGov poll showed only 15% of the public are enthusiastic about the coronation, with a majority not interested. The BBC’s coverage will suggest the opposite is true,” Smith said.

In the YouGov poll support for abolition of the monarchy has clearly climbed while support for the monarchy among people under 40 has dropped. None of that information has been reflected in the BBC’s coverage.

Anti-monarchy groups have slammed the plan to pledge allegiance to King Charles, branding the move as an "offensive, tone deaf and a gesture that holds the people to contempt". Instead, they say "in a democracy it is the head of state who should be pledging allegiance to the people, not the other way around."

Protests are being planned for the day of the coronation, with organizers demanding a swift end to what they view as the UK's system of constitutional monarchy and believe the monarchy goes against every democratic principle. 

Anti-monarch groups such as Republic also see the British monarchy as an anachronistic institution with no place in a 21st century democracy, particularly at a time when people are facing the worst cost of living crisis in decades.

They are essentially campaigning for an elected head of state.