...By Judah Olanisebee for TDPel Media.
A 22-year-old Brazilian man, Savio Valei, who has been collecting more than 2,000 pieces of royal memorabilia since the age of 15, said he considers the British royal family “an extension of my own family”.
He is now preparing to celebrate the upcoming coronation day, which coincides with his birthday, with decorations and flags of red, blue, and white, the colors of the Union Jack. Mr. Valei, who is a lawyer, expressed his excitement for the “historic day” and plans to coincide his birthday celebrations with the King’s coronation.
Mr. Valei has always been interested in British history and became fascinated with the royal family after the birth of Princess Charlotte in 2015.
He has been following their lives and work ever since, celebrating important dates and mourning family fights and deaths.
Among his favorite memorabilia pieces is a framed picture of a handwritten card and a bouquet of white roses placed in Hyde Park by his friends who live in London after Queen Elizabeth II’s death last September.
The card and flowers were a gift from Mr. Valei, and he asked his friends to take a picture of them among the other tributes to remember the late Queen.
Mr. Valei’s collection includes books, magazines, mugs, dolls, tea tins, photos, and replicas.
His bedroom is decorated from floor to ceiling with an array of memorabilia, but he admits there is now little room to display everything.
His most expensive memorabilia is a 50cm-long Kate Middleton wedding doll, which he has yet to find a suitable place to display.
Mr. Valei regards the royals as a family, saying he “loves the legacy they carry” and the “history, tradition, and royal genealogy” they represent.
He even admires the Queen Consort, saying that she has earned his respect and admiration during her years of working for the royal family.
The lawyer also thinks that Prince Charles has been preparing for many years to be King, and that Camilla will also make an excellent Queen.
However, former royal protection officer Simon Morgan has warned that protesters planning unannounced action at the coronation could be mistaken for plotters who wish to cause harm, adding that demonstrators need to be aware that they will be in the middle of an armed policing operation.
The most serious risk factors that police chiefs have to plan for include terror attacks, the threat from fixated individuals who are obsessed with certain people in the public eye, and single-issue causes such as those pursued by Extinction Rebellion, Just Stop Oil, and the Not My King anti-monarchist movement.
Despite this, security experts believe that police and security chiefs will have learned lessons from running operations around the Platinum Jubilee and the Queen’s funeral, and are prepared for any untoward occurrence.
