Steph McGovern Wins Praise For Emotional Speech About 'Extreme Wealth' Seen During Coronation

The Steph's Packed Lunch host said she found the ceremony "hard" to watch after spending a week with people living in extreme poverty.
Steph McGovern on the set of Steph's Packed Lunch
Steph McGovern on the set of Steph's Packed Lunch
Channel 4

Steph McGovern has received a wave of praise over a speech she gave about the monarchy on her Channel 4 daytime show.

During Monday’s edition of Steph’s Packed Lunch, the host and her guests reflected on the coronation celebrations over the past weekend, which the former BBC business journalist admitted she found β€œhard” to enjoy due to the royals’ elaborate displays of wealth.

β€œMy beef is less with the event itself,” she began. β€œ[People were] having street parties, and in my local area, people were really excited about it.

β€œBut also, and I’m going to try not to get emotional about this, in the last week, I’ve been working with families who have got nothing.

β€œA little boy who’s been going through a bin for food, because his parents haven’t got stuff. Working with kids who don’t know what shower gel is. I’d taken them some, and some of them were asking what it was. And then, also, a family member in hospital, who’s on a trolley in a corridor. That would never happen to that family.”

Steph was absolutely cooking here@StephLunch pic.twitter.com/Z45ImGM40D

β€” Nick Walker (@nickw84) May 8, 2023

Looking at a picture of the newly-crowned King Charles, Steph continued: β€œThat picture – how much is that crown with? The gold carriage worth three million – could we not start selling some of that off and thinking about the nurses we need or what we need to solve the poverty?

β€œThe wealth divides really upsets me. And I get [the] history, and we have a monarch, and that’s that. And so many people get so much out of it.

β€œBut also, why does it have to be this extreme wealth that they have? Why can’t they live more normally? That’s what I find hard.”

King Charles III
King Charles III
Hugo Burnand/Royal Household 2023 via Β© 2023 PA Media, All Rights Reserved

After a clip of Steph’s speech was shared online, many people agreed that the displays of wealth during the coronation felt uncomfortable in the current climate:

What Steph McGovern said. #Coronation

The nurses we clapped for are using food banks. Teachers are striking. Rail workers have stopped striking - for now. The NHS. The cost of living crisis… A fckn coronation?

pic.twitter.com/n25NWSaRNF

β€” Le Gateau Chocolat (@LeGateauChoc) May 8, 2023

Steph McGovern once again proving why she's in another league to other daytime TV presenters. Holly & Phil wouldn't dare criticise the status quo unless it served them https://t.co/OTc1o1rrRx

β€” Joe Gurski (@j0egurski) May 8, 2023

Steph McGovern says everything I have wanted to say! https://t.co/Z5j0FPw8gp

β€” Natalie Lloyd ❄️ (@talioop) May 8, 2023

Why don't the rest of the Country get this and understand why Liverpool fans protest against it, baffles me, well said @stephmcgovern https://t.co/NdmM1Y3gFK

β€” Syl97πŸ”₯ (@SDal63) May 8, 2023

Steph McGovern putting into words exactly how I feel about it all https://t.co/SVnCt1seVe

β€” Oonagh πŸ€πŸˆπŸˆβ¬›πŸ˜Ž Rebel Scum (@honeyhyde24) May 8, 2023

Steph McGovern here, showing why she was 100% right to leave the BBC & join Channel 4. Not sure she'd have had license to come out with these spot-on views on live TV if she was still on the Beeb. https://t.co/7ibSZwlld7

β€” Mark S (@jacobs_ladder71) May 8, 2023

Big thank u to Steph McGovern for standg up for those in need in the UK. Obscene waste on money, 4 MILLION CHILDREN IN POVERTY.
"Bring the country together"? only for those with the money to fawn over the establishment. Y doesn't the @BBC consult an "expert" who lives in poverty?

β€” Stephen L Bates πŸ’™ πŸ‡ͺπŸ‡Ί πŸ‡΅πŸ‡Έ #FBPE #WakeupUK (@StephenLBates) May 8, 2023

Steph McGovern here talking absolute sense. https://t.co/9lj784Vw9U

β€” John Rodge #YesCymru#Annibyniaeth (@Gtr910) May 8, 2023

Steph McGovern is magnificent. https://t.co/Bdu2saf9aU

β€” Steven Burkeman #FBPE (@stevenburkeman) May 9, 2023

Guaranteed Steph McGovern W https://t.co/lyB5WVk14b

β€” Delia Ramirez Fan🍷🌊🌊 (@GartonArthur) May 8, 2023

100% facts from Steph McGovern. I also work with families that are struggling massively under this govt. the Coronation was a timely and stark reminder of the gulf between the 2 faces of Tory Britain: the forgotten poor and the tax-exempt billionaire class. https://t.co/Qpcxxa1LMt

β€” Paul Bradshaw πŸ’™πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡¦ (@PBradshawMedia) May 8, 2023

Among the performers at this event were Paloma Faith, Katy Perry and Lionel Richie, with Take That closing the show.

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