‘Red faces in Ireland’: British media responds to Matt Barrett’s coronation Instagram posts

Leo Varadkar’s partner’s use of social media at the coronation of Britain’s Charles III has been reported in the British press as being “embarrassing” and “highly insulting”.

Matt Barrett posted a number of images on his private Instagram account related to the coronation, which he attended with Mr Varadkar last Saturday week.

The lighthearted Instagram posts were first highlighted in Saturday’s Irish Times by Miriam Lord. One before the coronation posted from the car with views of the crowds waiting at the Mall stated: “Holy sh*t I think I’m accidentally crowned king of England.”

He continued to post from inside Westminster Abbey during the coronation, though guests were told to put their phones away.

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“The queen’s sceptre and rod are brought from the altar by the Right Rev and Right Hon the Lord Chartres GCVO and the Right Rev Rose Hudson Wilkin CD MBE, Bishop of Dover. The queen touches them in turn – sounds like the script to a good night out, tbh,” he quipped.

[ Miriam Lord’s Week: Who’s the joker sending Insta-quips during the king’s coronation? ]

Another guest, Right Rev James Newcome, had the title Clerk of the Closet.

“Clerk of the Closet?” Dr Barrett highlighted in orange and added, “Had this job until my early 20s.”

He also compared Charles’s crown to the sorting hat in the Harry Potter books. “Was genuinely half expecting it to shout ‘GRYFFINDOR’.”

The Daily Mail reported that the remarks “caused outrage”, though the only person quoted expressing outrage was the London-based Irish designer Paul Costelloe. Mr Costelloe told The Sunday Independent: “For people living over here, it puts you in a very embarrassing situation. I think it’s terribly hard to make excuses for that sort of behaviour. You can say it’s amusing and all, but you can’t do that type of thing.

“They should have turned their phones off before they went in and Leo should have told him to put his phone away.”

The Daily Telegraph reported that Dr Barrett was accused of “embarrassing his country”, again referring to Mr Costelloe.

According to the Guardian there were “red faces in Ireland over coronation quips” and quoted Mr Costelloe: “The British now had material to say the Irish did not know how to behave in such circumstances. I just hope the English press don’t get hold of it.”