King Charles III, Photo: A screenshot from BBC.
As expected, watching the coronation of Charles III as king offered moments of unintended hilarity. For me the tossup was between royal horses dropping their royal manure oblivious to whose path they were littering and the royal train of the royal robe of the king-to-be long being enough to be mistaken for a maroon carpet. Ditto Camilla’s train.
Then there were the layers of fineries that Charles was draped under as well as a single ceremonial glove presented to him by a Sikh gentleman. It looked like a royal mitten which the king might suddenly use to retrieve some burning embers.
Perhaps the only time Charles seemed to smile during the actual coronation was when a Lord Patel presented him with a ring of some sorts which the king gently touched. For a brief moment, Charles seemed to enjoy the appurtenances. Otherwise, he was somber like Yoda.
As a card-carrying member of the swinish multitudes, I find such pomp and circumstance rather ludicrous. The only way to power through it as part of my journalistic responsibilities is to derive humor where none is intended. For instance, when Britain’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak read some passages from the Bible causing some Hindus to wince. They probably expected him to read some lines from B R Chopra’s ‘Mahabharat’. Sunak later called the coronation a “dazzling display” that no other countries could muster. I don’t think he has seen Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s many ceremonial engagements. They are like coronation.
Another unintended piece of hilarity for me was when Harry walked into the Westminster Abbey, the Windsors’ family church. He smiled at no one in particular among the guests and the response was ice crystals. At this stage, I am sure, he is thoroughly relishing his status as a royal outlier having a great time in America as a spare. Speaking of Harry, his brother William looked suitably earnest while adjusting a stole on his father or buttoning a robe. I also noticed that the father still has much more hair than the two sons combined. (Literary exaggeration.)
I was struck by the use of “my undoubted king”, an expression that was used by many. I wonder what a doubted king is. It is funny that they have to assert that Charles is their “undoubted king” at his coronation as if removing any last remnants of doubt. I am sure these expressions are steeped in royal tradition, but I find them ridiculous.
For a few moments Charles was screened off as some formal anointing was carried out after which at least two pieces of heavy robes were put on him. St Edward’s Crown was used to crown him. “The crown was made for King Charles II in 1661, as a replacement for the medieval crown which had been melted down in 1649. The original was thought to date back to the eleventh-century,” according to the official website of the family.
Among the objects that were presented to him were the Spurs, made in 1661, two Armills or bracelets made from gold, champlevé and basse-taille enamel, lined in velvet, the Sovereign’s Orb made from gold in the seventeenth century, the Sovereign’s Ring composed of a sapphire with a ruby cross set in diamonds and made in 1831 and two Scepters.