Commentary: Pledge allegiance to Britain’s King Charles? I’ll pass on that part of the coronation
Last year, at 73, Britain’s King Charles III got the job he waited for his whole life when he succeeded to the throne upon the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II. On Saturday, Charles, now 74, finally gets his coronation and the accompanying fanfare. (The Brits spend a respectful period of time mourning a dead sovereign before celebrating the successor.)
He was 4 when he watched his mother go through this ritual, Elizabeth was a mere 25 when she became queen (and 27 when she was crowned.) She holds the record for the longest reign as a British monarch — 70 years — and Charles holds the record as the longest waiting heir to the British monarchy. It’s unclear if he will ever match his mother’s popularity.
She was beloved from the get-go, allowed to grow into the job and pivot from whatever mistakes she made along the way. Charles, on the other hand, experienced his entire life, achievements and failures in public — the world traveler, the environmentalist, the patron of charities, husband to the charismatic Lady Diana Spencer, father, philanderer, divorced man, then husband again, grandfather — before he finally became king. Some of his missteps — his involvement with Camilla during his marriage to Diana — are still held against him even as public opinion has gradually warmed to now-Queen Camilla, who will be crowned as well during the ceremony.
Not just an English affair: King Charles III’s formal accession to the throne points up restiveness in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
But he’s tried to be a progressive king-in-waiting. He was born at home — that being Buckingham Palace — in 1948, an era when royals didn’t do anything as public as go to a hospital to give birth. But he is the first monarch to attend university. He was dedicated to sustainable farming and protecting the environment decades before climate change was in everyone’s consciousness.
The palace has made some efforts to scale back the pageantry for the 21st century. His mother had 8,251 guests at her coronation. By comparison, Charles is hosting a sparse 2,200. First Lady Jill Biden will be there representing the U.S. No U.S. president has ever attended a British coronation, but, really, President Biden should be there. The two older statesmen who got their dream jobs late in life have a lot of notes to compare.
Of course, the guest we all really want to see is Prince Harry. Charles’ second son is attending solo despite bad blood between him and other family members after he and his wife, Meghan Markle, talked publicly about the mean and sometimes racist treatment of the couple by the press and social media and the resistance of his family and the palace to do anything about it. And the couple revealed someone in the family was concerned about how dark their children might be.
Queen Elizabeth’s whole life was based on duty and ritual. That didn’t stop her from taking a moment to chat up her antic great-grandson during her Platinum Jubilee.
As family issues go, these are among the thorniest. But it’s also the biggest day of Charles’ life. So it’s good that Harry is going. Meghan will stay home because it’s their son Archie’s fourth birthday. Once Harry is there, he shouldn’t be shunned and relegated to a bad seat in the Abbey as some have speculated might happen. Harry should also join the family when they all appear on the palace balcony later. Time to stop this petty practice of only allowing “working royals” on the balcony. A coronation is the ultimate celebration of family.
There’s not much separation of church and state in a coronation — Charles commits to maintain “the Protestant reformed religion established by law” — but to make it look more diverse, Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim and Sikh leaders, among others, have been invited to participate.
Queen Elizabeth II was the most successful and studiously bland monarch in modern history. That was her superpower.
In a nod to sustainability, according to the palace, Charles is reusing the white leather coronation glove made in 1937 for his grandfather, George VI. He’s also reusing a scepter and vestments worn in coronations back in the 1800s.
Arguably everything about this ceremony is recycled. There’s not much of a line between recycled and historic here.
The nearly five-pound St. Edward’s crown that will be placed on his head dates back to 1661. The jewel-studded gold orb he will be handed dates to the same year. The chair he will sit in to be crowned dates back to 1300. All this is taking place in Westminster Abbey, the same cathedral used for coronations since the time of the Norman conquest. As spectacles go, nothing would seem to be more rarified and less connected to the citizens of Britain and the rest of the world. (Even a royal wedding is more real life.)
Yet, Charles walks into 1,000-plus years of history with this ceremony, and for that reason alone it’s captivating. And also, a little horrifying: The Archbishop of Canterbury who presides over this ceremony will invite the audience in the Abbey and members of the public across the British realm to proclaim: “I swear that I will pay true allegiance to Your Majesty, and to your heirs and successors according to law. So help me God.”
Yikes. I know it’s just a costume drama, and here’s a point where the audience gets to play along. At previous coronations, only the nobility was invited to do this. I’ll be watching, but if I were a Brit, I’d pass on the pledge of allegiance.
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