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Crowning a 21st Century King

May 11, 2023   ·   0 Comments

By Constance Scrafield

Some 70 years in the waiting, formerly the Prince of Wales, the now King Charles III may have wondered from time to time whether his mother, Queen Elizabeth II would rob him of his eventual right to inherit the title of Monarch of the United Kingdom by outliving him. There are 11 other Monarchies in Europe, plus several serving variations on the theme of monarchy around the world, hanging in there in spite of the rush-forward concepts of this 15- seconds -at- a time era. 

Finally, after the intense preparation anyone who has never been involved in such an event could barely begin to understand but which the British do extraordinarily well, the day arrived. So many soldiers – 4,000 of them marched and rode their horses in perfect, indeed flawless, formation from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey and back again during the course of that day to escort the King and Camilla, his wife and crowned Queen as Charles had insisted she must be. 

They two travelled in a gold-gilded (on wood) coach, built in 1762 which has been used for every coronation since 1831. Weighing four tonnes, it requires eight horses to pull it and is only ever moved at a walking pace – so don’t be in a hurry. 

There had been plenty of commentary from King Charles about cutting back on the cost, the pomp and circumstance of the coronation while it was in the planning, antique costumes and uniforms he would rather install in museums, “where they belong,” he was quoted as saying. Still, a forest of people stood ready to insist and direct, all well steeped in the traditions and, most importantly, the protocols of the ceremony with its trappings, Biblical readings, the many prayers and the Bishop of Canterbury’s sermon. 

An endless movement of sitting and standing, walking from one point to the other led the ceremony, punctuated by a great deal of music, ancient choral sung by adult and children choirs – such harmonies and range, that came between the movements and moments of the Coronation. A Coronation Anthem by Andrew Lloyd Webber accompanied the moment when the King and his Queen [with “Consort” dropped] finally stood together.

Throughout the time of shifting between phases in the procedure, at all times, a gentleman was present on each side of the King to guide him on, watching his robes did not trip him and that he knew what was coming next. It looked truly as though as few compromises as possible had been made between the designers, consultants, religious experts, theologians, publicists and the King to be. He did reduce the number of invited guests from the 8,000 who came to his mother’s coronation in 1953 to 2,000.

Protocol dictated where people sat in the congregation gathered to witness the Crowning of King and Queen within the interior of the Abbey. William and Catherine, the Prince and Princess of Wales sat at the front, with other Royals in successive rows behind them. 

Harry, Duke of Sussex and brother to the Prince of Wales, but out of the picture as a Royal and quite out of favour since publishing his tell-all book, Spare, which was ghost-written for him – he sat solo in the third row. He had flown in by commercial flight from California and returned the same day after the Coronation. He was in a rush to return to California to celebrate his son, Archie’s fourth birthday.

Protocol, history and mostly adherence to tradition assured continuity and clarity for the participants and we who watched.

There has been a sacred building on this site since 785 CE when it was a monastery. Subsequent kings built larger until, in 1245, Henry III pulled down the whole church Edward the Confessor had build in 1065. In its place Henry III had the current Abbey built, pretty much as it is today, bar some remodelling inside and considerable restoration after the London bombings during WWII.

When, at last, the Crowns had been placed on royal heads (Camilla adjusting hers by tucking in stands of hair and fussing a little – she appeared to almost reach up to assist the priest who was placing the crown on her head but seemed to think better of it.), the trumpets and the many fine voices of the wonderful children and their adult fellows blasted the news that there is a new King, a new Queen, perhaps a new approach to the task of being Royalty in this 21st Century.

All his long life, while waiting for this, Charles has been busy with his own campaign for the environment, his concern about poverty and his charities across Britain and elsewhere. His promise has been that they would continue their work, once he could no longer be involved.

While the Monarch is somewhat leashed by Parliament, that restraint may find itself having to give way to this much older “new” king. It will be interesting to watch the puffed-up politicians dealing with a King who has his own ideas and has lived long enough to value them.

Aside a bit, there is a lovely video with Andrew Lloyd Webber talking about his Coronation Anthem. Here is the link:


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