‘Woolly delinquents’ celebrate Charles’ coronation in yarn

Heather Howarth pulled King Charles III’s ears and laughed.

Her English village’s knitting and chatting ladies thought the ears should be bigger. She was careful not to offend when crocheting the new king.

She patted the king, saying, “He might not like this one.” “He’ll love his Grenadier Guards!”

Howarth and her friends in Hurst, west of London, have created a woolly coronation procession to challenge Charles’s May 6 Westminster Abbey coronation. The women’s knitted and crocheted crafts cover the 29 posts around the community pond, re-creating the event’s cast.
King, queen consort, and Archbishop of Canterbury. Many Grenadier Guards. They even included Paddington Bear, who became an honorary royal after sharing tea with the late Queen Elizabeth II in a video honouring her 70 years on the monarchy.

The Hurst Hookers are part of a British trend of guerrilla knitters and crocheters decorating red post boxes and other public locations for holidays and royal events. It’s free and occasionally stolen. Even without permission, they enjoy brightening their neighborhoods.
For months, “yarn bombers” around the country have been making golden carriages, crenelated castles, and jewel-encrusted crowns to add fuzzy color to the crowning festivities.

The Hurst Hookers?

During the coronavirus pandemic, this group met at the local cricket club every two weeks when Britain was not in lockdown. Bring your own gin and tonic, but tea is available. WhatsApp connects the 18 women while they’re not crocheting. One user disabled her notifications due to the constant pings.

After Charles became king, they planned and built their coronation scene. Installing it took till April.

As the sun set on a recent Friday, the “guerrilla” action began.