Long Island Brits to watch king on his day with a shrug, or with love

Long Islanders helped kick King George III’s men out of America in 1776.

This weekend, the Greater Patchogue Chamber of Commerce suggests tea and crumpets to toast his great-great-great-great grandson Charles III’s coronation.

“The British Are Coming,” says the chamber’s invitation for a coronation celebration. "The King Charles Martini" and "Queen Camilla's favorite drink a Gin and Tonic" are on the menu.

Saturday marks the crowning of King Charles III, with ritual, pageantry and symbolism dating back more than 1,000 years.

Patchogue’s festivities are one of the ways Long Islanders are celebrating the coronation — or shrugging it off, or somewhere betwixt.

Travel agent Mark Thompson, 63, of Huntington, says he appreciates the monarchy as an institution, an apolitical head-of-state handling ceremonial duties, and Thompson even “cried for a week when the queen died.”

But he won’t be standing for “God Save the King.”

“I couldn’t care less about King Charles. He doesn’t seem right," said Thompson, who's from Surrey, just outside London, as he watched Wednesday’s televised Premier League soccer match from England between Liverpool and Fulham.

"He’s always been Prince Charles, and he doesn’t seem to be a worthy monarch to me, and I think the monarchy will slide, which I never would have thought a couple years ago,” Thompson said. “He’s not very kingly.”

'Pro King Charles'

By contrast, British-born Antonio Trozzo, 55, owner of Antonio’s Pizzeria and Kensington Pies, which bakes British potpies and pastries in East Meadow, says, “I’m pro the coronation; I’m pro King Charles.”

“Do we need a king? Yes, we do. Does he rule? No, he does not. However, he does bring in a lot of wealth and stability to the Commonwealth and the country. This coronation is part of history. It’s what they’ve always done in the last 1,000 years,” says Trozzo, who’s from Berkshire.

And 237 years ago, Long Island helped write a new history for the soon-to-be-former British colonies.

It was in 1776 when a public reading of the Declaration of Independence led to Long Islanders creating, and hanging, an effigy of George III. It was on Long Island where Nathan Hale, the 21-year-old spy famed for regretting having only one life to lose for his country, landed near Huntington Bay to begin gathering intelligence about the British. But in the run-up to revolution, Long Island was divided: parts of Hempstead and Oyster Bay largely supported the king, while Patriot sentiment was most solid in Suffolk.

Nowadays, the British monarchy remains imprinted on the names of the four counties physically on the Island: Suffolk, for the last British king named Charles (Charles II, Charles III’s first cousin, 10 times removed), the Duke of Suffolk; Nassau, honoring King William III (Charles III’s second cousin, nine times removed); Kings County (Brooklyn), also for Charles II; Queens, for Charles II’s wife, Catherine of Braganza, to whom he paid less attention than his mistresses. Across the water, Richmond (Staten Island) was named to honor Charles II’s illegitimate son.

The royal scandals — the modern ones — haven’t exactly endeared Paul Cousins, 60, now of Huntington, to the monarchy.

“It just kind of makes you less and less interested, I think,” said Cousins, a photographer. “You know, they’re just regular people trying to lead regular lives, for the most part.”

Waning interest

Cousins, now an American citizen, formerly of Romford in Essex, says his interest in the crown has waned since moving to the U.S., in 1985.

Still, he’ll be watching Charles’ coronation on television — or at least he’ll record it to watch later. He’ll be busy with his 11-year-old daughter’s lacrosse and soccer schedule.

“I certainly wouldn’t miss one of her activities to watch it, but I think we have it set up for DVR, so we’ll record it, and maybe just skip through it later in the day,” he said. 

Dominic Solly, 70, of Floral Park, who moved to the U.S. in 1979, says he’ll try to watch the coronation. Solly was just a lad for Elizabeth’s coronation, and he still has the crown coin that was given to the parents of all British children born in 1952 or 1953.

"I hope the ceremony will be successful. One of the very few things the Brits do well is march up and down in rather expensive uniforms, to conceal the fact that any rights that Charles has or Elizabeth had are a sham," said Solly, a retired investment banker as well as Latin teacher at Manhasset High who has lived in Floral Park since 1984 and was born in Hitchin, England. "It is a better use for soldiers rather than taking part in futile and misbegotten wars and invasions to satisfy the demands of politicians."

Angela Austin, 74, of Sag Harbor, will drive up Friday to Westchester to watch the coronation at her cousin's house.

There are lots of Union Jack flags outside, and the cousins will eat roast beef and Yorkshire pudding and other British treats.

As girls, the two watched the coronation of Queen Elizabeth, on a black-and-white set via the BBC, with their families in their native Kent, England.

“We watched it together on television so my cousin and I felt it would be really nice as two old birds to watch it together this time, 70 odd years later,” she said.

Another British Long Islander, John Dennis-Browne of Glen Cove, who once sang solo for Elizabeth, would be watching — if he were still across the pond.

But he’s in America now: “I didn’t even remember that he was being crowned on Saturday.”

By Matthew Chayes

matthew.chayes@newsday.comchayesmatthew

Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.