Long Live The King!

The British royals know how to put on a show – and keep us all entertained

 

Say this for the British royal family. They know how to keep us entertained. First there was the Platinum Jubilee that provided hours of live television programming. Sadly, in a matter of months, Queen Elizabeth II was dead, but her funeral was not just an emotive occasion but a prime example of the kind of pageantry that only the Brits can pull off. And now, a few short months later, we have the coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla. 

 

I don’t know about you, but I sat glued to the television screen for hours, watching the spectacle unfold. How could I possibly tear myself away from the sight of golden carriages pulled by six perfectly-matched greys, endless columns of soldiers from every arm of the military, marching in perfect tandem, jewel-encrusted crowns and orbs and scepters, the kind we read about in fairy tales, and a resplendent King and Queen, processing down Westminster Abbey to rousing cries of God Save The King. The scenes were like something out of a movie, though even Hollywood wouldn’t have had the budget to stage a show of this magnitude. 

 

At the end of that marathon of TV-watching, here are just some of the thoughts that popped into my head:

 

·       When Britain claims that it is a multicultural society, it is prepared to walk the talk. At the Coronation, we saw Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, a practicing Hindu, read out a lesson from the Bible. There was a Sikh as part of the Christian choir. And while the liturgy of the ceremony was determinately Christian, at the end, when the King was leaving the Abbey, faith leaders from other communities (Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist) lined up to say their prayers for his success. 

·       The crowning of Queen Camilla was the ultimate victory of true love. There was a time – when the then Prince Charles’ marriage to Diana was imploding – when Camilla was the most hated woman in Britain. The tragic death of Diana soon after she divorced Charles forced Camilla underground for years. But here she was, crowned alongside him by the same Church that would not even allow her and Charles to marry in a religious ceremony 18 years ago (they had to tie the knot in Windsor Town Hall). As triumphs go, this one was pretty much complete.

·       It was especially refreshing to see a blended family on the balcony of Buckingham House as Camilla’s grandchildren, who had served as her pages, walked on to the balcony to stand beside her and the King, who was flanked by his own grandchildren (his eldest, George, had served as his page). In an era in which divorces and second marriages are all too common, it was nice to see royalty –usually a bastion of conservatism – embrace the concept of blended families so whole-heartedly.

 

·       The breakout star of the Coronation was the Lord President of the Privy Council, Penny Mordaunt, who was tasked with carrying a heavy sword at right angles to her body, throughout the proceedings. That she managed to do so without breaking a sweat must be down to her training as a magician’s assistant (no, I kid you not). Though, if you ask me, they missed a trick by not sawing her apart and then – abracadabra! – putting her back together on live television. Now that would have been a spectacle to beat any Coronation!