I’ve always loved Piccadilly. For me, it’s stylish and glamorous, with marvellous stores, glorious architecture, pretty Green Park and the magnificent Royal Academy.
Walk in one direction to sprawling Hyde Park, another to fancy Mayfair, a third towards edgy Soho and south to swanky Belgravia.
Piccadilly is home to Maison Assouline, the Burlington Arcade, Fortnum and Mason and Lillywhites - all stores in which I love to browse. Jump on the number 9 bus and you’re at the Albert Hall in no time at all. Board the 19 and head off to Islington. Route number 14 will drop you in Bloomsbury and the 38 will take you all the way to Hackney.
And whilst Piccadilly might the one of the epicentres of tourist London, it’s for good reason.
Today, like everywhere else, the atmosphere is buzzing in anticipation of tomorrow’s ceremony.
Piccadilly is awash with red, white and blue union jack flags, fluttering gaily in the breeze.
Everywhere I look, there’s memorabilia stalls, selling plastic bowler hats, tea towels, key rings, Coronation mugs and paper masks of Charles, Camilla, WIlls and Kate.
Trust me, it might be tacky but the tourists are lapping it up.
And whilst it’s hard for me to estimate how many people have flown in, the streets seem to be jammed with visitors speaking every tongue under the sun.
Both Hatchards and Waterstones (bookshops I love to spend mornings browsing in) have shop fronts filled with biographies of Charles III. As well as the serious ones (!) there are whole windows devoted to page-turners for the children. Books about the late Queen Elizabeth dominated the shelves nine months ago; today, the front tables in the bookshops are filled with stories of Paddington Bear, Peppa Pig and Winnie the Pooh - all London and Monarchy-themed.
A few months ago, there were ‘In Memoriam’ tributes at store entrances everywhere you looked (the high-end Fortnum and Mason department store - which holds a Royal warrant - actually shut down their famous window displays for the duration of the mourning period). Now, they’re full of glamour and colour.
The lovely Burlington Arcade (which runs parallel to Bond Street and is an excellent example of Regency architecture) has rolled out the red carpet (well, it’s actually more red/pink) and hung fancy pendants with ‘CR’ (‘Charles Regina’) all along its enclosure, and with the light streaming in from the glass windows above, it looks heavenly.
From as long ago as I can remember, the Monarch’s cypher was ‘ER’.
On letterboxes, government buildings and stamps. It was all I ever knew.
It is strange, looking at this new insignia. And a timely reminder that an era has passed. But, like everything in life, I’m sure I will get used to it!
I walk around for some time, enjoying it all. I sit with a cup of coffee and people-watch. I then get out my camera and start photographing for - after all - this is a moment in time.
And then I decide to pop inside Fortnum and Mason - and that’s for another blog all together…
