Coronation of King Charles III, May 6

[dirac]

Thanks to the longevity of Charles' mum, I've never seen a coronation live before. This one won't have a lot of ermine on display, I expect.

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The investiture: The sovereign is presented with items including the Royal Orb, representing religious and moral authority; the Sceptre, representing power; and the Sovereign's Sceptre, a rod of gold topped with a white enamelled dove, a symbol of justice and mercy. Finally, the Archbishop places St Edward's Crown on the King's head

[abatt]

I found the pomp and circumstance surrounding Elizabeth's funeral fascinating. I'm sure the coronation will also be something special to see.  

[dirac]

This will be much smaller scale for several reasons but I'll be interested to see it as well.

[dirac]

The invitation.

I like the echoes of medieval manuscripts. The inclusion of the Green Man is causing some discussion.

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And it’s become so deeply associated with paganism that it’s difficult now to separate it out. And if you look closely at the image on the invitation, the Green Man is also wearing a crown made of hawthorne with an acorn on top. This is very, very closely associated with witchcraft and paganism in the UK. It might be that the designer had these things in mind, even if the king was unaware of those associations.

Related.

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In tribute to the upcoming coronation, the Royal Archives has unearthed invites across the monarchy's history.

 

[dirac]

With regard to the disappearance of ermine, I have since read that there wasn't a lot of it at Elizabeth's coronation in '53. The nation was still in postwar economic recovery and even the toffs had  no money for new coronation robes. So they refurbished old ones if they had one or rented capes of cotton velveteen trimmed with miniver.

Nonetheless, the Queen chose to pull out all the stops and it paid off in every respect. Of course, times have changed.

[Drew]

The inclusion of a moment in which the whole nation is summoned to pledge allegiance to the monarch and his descendants did rather catch my attention. It's ostensibly meant as a democratizing gesture -- where the "peers" once plead allegiance, now the "people" will. From the BBC website:

"The order of service will read: 'All who so desire, in the Abbey, and elsewhere, say together: I swear that I will pay true allegiance to Your Majesty, and to your heirs and successors according to law. So help me God'

"It will be followed by the playing of a fanfare.

"The Archbishop of Canterbury will then proclaim 'God save the King', with all asked to respond: 'God save King Charles. Long live King Charles. May the King live forever.' Link below:

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-65435426

 

[sandik]

On 4/9/2023 at 5:04 AM, dirac said:

The invitation.

I like the echoes of medieval manuscripts. The inclusion of the Green Man is causing some discussion.

 

Apparently Charles will swear to defend all faiths, not just the CofE -- so the pagans are in there!

[Mashinka]

Monarchs have held the title defender of the faith since the pope bestowed it on Henry VIII.  However a few years later Henry ditched the faith when he turned the country protestant and looted all the religious institutions.  So D of F is actually totally meaningless.

[dirac]

14 hours ago, Drew said:

The inclusion of a moment in which the whole nation is summoned to pledge allegiance to the monarch and his descendants did rather catch my attention. It's ostensibly meant as a democratizing gesture -- where the "peers" once plead allegiance, now the "people" will. From the BBC website:

"The order of service will read: 'All who so desire, in the Abbey, and elsewhere, say together: I swear that I will pay true allegiance to Your Majesty, and to your heirs and successors according to law. So help me God'

"It will be followed by the playing of a fanfare.

"The Archbishop of Canterbury will then proclaim 'God save the King', with all asked to respond: 'God save King Charles. Long live King Charles. May the King live forever.' Link below:

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-65435426

 

Thanks for the link, Drew. It'll be awkward if that "great cry" doesn't materialize.

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Apparently Charles will swear to defend all faiths, not just the CofE -- so the pagans are in there!

I see by the article to which Drew linked that the wording of the oaths will not be changed and instead the Archbishop of Canterbury will supply some helpful "contextualizing."

[Helene]

South African soprano Pretty Yende will sing an original composition by Sarah Class for the coronation:

 

[dirac]

On 4/30/2023 at 8:57 PM, Drew said:

The inclusion of a moment in which the whole nation is summoned to pledge allegiance to the monarch and his descendants did rather catch my attention. It's ostensibly meant as a democratizing gesture -- where the "peers" once plead allegiance, now the "people" will. From the BBC website:

"The order of service will read: 'All who so desire, in the Abbey, and elsewhere, say together: I swear that I will pay true allegiance to Your Majesty, and to your heirs and successors according to law. So help me God'

"It will be followed by the playing of a fanfare.

"The Archbishop of Canterbury will then proclaim 'God save the King', with all asked to respond: 'God save King Charles. Long live King Charles. May the King live forever.' Link below:

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-65435426

 

You know, the more I look at the wording of the "people's oath" the odder it seems. For example, the sweat-free Prince Andrew and Whatshisname in Montecito, who compared royal life to "The Truman Show," are still in the line of succession. And what is "true allegiance" anyway? "May the King live forever?" - is that new?  It's just a tad....North Korean.

[volcanohunter]

At this point they're pretty far down in the line of succession and will only drop further once William becomes a grandfather.

[dirac]

Oh, I didn't mean to say there was any chance of their actually succeeding. Still, they're there, and I assume they remain among Charles' heirs and (potential) successors.

[Helene]

Whether or not anyone thinks it's more inclusive to have the entire population of the UK plus Commonwealth invited to say the oath instead of the "homage of peers," didn't the tradition of the latter mean that the aristocracy pledged not to try to kill and overthrow the monarch and to fight the monarch's battles, rather than aiding his/her enemies and potential usurpers?

[volcanohunter]

Most native-born Canadians never swear an oath of loyalty to the monarch. Those acquiring Canadian citizenship have a choice between swearing or affirming loyalty to the monarch and his/her descendants. Occasionally young attorneys will object to having swear such an oath, arguing that they signed up to uphold Canadian laws, not the monarchy. 

A poll released last week suggests that 60% of Canadians are opposed to recognizing Charles as King of Canada (they like Camilla even less), most don't want to see him on their coins and $20 bills, and 52% think that Canada shouldn't continue as a constitutional monarchy, which is interesting given that republican sentiment has never been especially strong in Canada.

[dirac]

There have been small anti-monarchist protests at some of C&C's public appearances, which would not have happened in the late Queen's last years (although she had her own spells of unpopularity).

In other news, Kate may choose to channel her inner flower child rather than wear a tiara.

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As part of the congregation, they have been instructed to wear day dress with hats, which has been a disappointment in itself to traditionalists who were hoping to see some of the world’s finest tiaras all paraded under one roof. Their Majesties’ crowns are indisputably a crucial part of the day, but might it bruise the ego of, say, Queen Letizia of Spain or Queen Maxima of the Netherlands if the Princess of Wales, whose husband is merely heir to the throne, is festooned in a tiara while they’re in hats?

 

[Mashinka]

I was planning to watch it on TV, but with no coronets, ermine or bling, there doesn't seem much point.

Kate is too old to wear a weath of flowers, but it would be nice if she cut her hair or piled it up for the occason.

[dirac]

Agreed. She put her hair up and didn't wear real flowers, but her headdress and that of Sophie Wessex looked like the royal version of something you'd pick up at JOANN or Michaels at Christmas. I'm afraid without bling and toffs in robes and some serious bending of knees the business just looks like a wedding.

Camilla looked great and you have to hand it to someone who has stuck with the same hairdo she had in 1975.

The music was really wonderful, though, and I tune in to these royal affairs just as much to hear the music and see the horses and precision marching as anything else.  The music and the military were in great form.  John Eliot Gardiner and Antonio Pappano in the pre-coronation segment, the Monteverdi Choir, Terfel singing Kyrie Eleison in Welsh, Yende, Roderick Williams, the Ascension Choir, on and on - it was just a feast.

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In a historic first, the complete coronation was recorded and released as an album on the day of the ceremony (you can hear several pieces played throughout the day today on Classic FM).

 

[pherank]

One of the PBS commentators mentioned that Kate and William were "wearing the formal mantle and dress asked for specifically by the King". As for hairstylists, I don't know who made the determination.