At Charles’s coronation, everything old was new again

The coronation of King Charles III was seen as an opportunity to usher in a new kind of monarchy — leaner, more accessible and inclusive — for the 21st century. While Saturday’s ceremony had its fair share of modern flourishes, it was hard to shake the feeling that it was largely a modification of an ancient ritual that, like the monarchy itself, cannot escape the heavy weight of the past.

It just so happened that the coronation was a huge success by most measures. It was on time and on schedule. Nobody released anything. Prince Harry came, saw and left without apparent incident. King Charles looked burdened and then relieved at the responsibility of it all; Queen Camilla looked radiant.

And Britain was delighted to see Penny Mordaunt, leader of the House of Commons, successfully possess an eight-pound sword encrusted with precious stones, wearing a blue dress and cape like some proud English Valkyrie. (She was a big hit on social media. “The penny is mightier than the sword,” said Chris Bryant, a Labor MP tweeted.)

But it’s hard to use the word “modern” to describe the ceremony, which included, among many other exotic elements, an ancient 350-pound stone from Scotland called Stone of fate; hollow gold “Sovereign’s Ball” inlaid with emeralds, rubies and sapphires, resembling a magnificent Fabergé egg surmounted by a cross; numerous embroidered mantles and jeweled crowns; two golden carriages of the monarch; and thousands of people in elaborate military costumes, looking like some kind of fancy dress army along the vast shopping center that runs from Trafalgar Square to Buckingham Palace.

British royal ceremonies – marriages, funerals and coronations – are, of course, highly choreographed events, their details designed to deliver specific messages to the nation and the world about what the monarchy means.

The last coronation, Queen Elizabeth’s, in 1953, felt like the empire’s last hurray and served to elevate a young woman who, untested and full of promise, could only grow up to work.

King Charles spent his whole life thinking about what kind of coronation he wanted, and it turns out he had very specific ideas. He wanted representatives of the world’s religions to participate in the ceremony, not just the Church of England, and it happened; he wanted it to include new music by different artists, and it did.

The ceremony’s guest list featured fewer peers and less people in very formal attire, and more celebrities – including Katy Perry (wearing a cheeky low-cut pink suit and massive hat), Lionel Richie and Emma Thompson. And this included attempts to give modern flourishes to ancient traditions, though often applied subtly.

Thus, Charles retained the custom that the monarch, when the Dean of Westminster anoints with oil, does so out of sight, behind a special screen. (The idea is that the ritual is so sacred that only the monarch and God should participate.)

I used oil is made from olives harvested from two groves in Jerusalem, using the same formula used to anoint his mother. But Charles also commissioned a special anointing screen using “traditional and modern sustainable embroidery techniques” to display the tree, reflecting his “deep commitment to the Commonwealth”. said the palace.

As a reflection of the King’s love of nature and recycling, the screen was supported by oak wooden posts made from “a wind-fallen tree from the Windsor Estate, which was originally planted by the Duke of Northumberland in 1765”.

Charles’s decision about where to house two of his most divisive family members at the abbey – his brother Andrew, disgraced for his links to financier Jeffrey Epstein; and his son Prince Harry, who lives in furious exile in California and has been stripped of all his royal titles – shows his practicality and perhaps a little ruthlessness.

Both attended the ceremony but were relegated to a seat in the third row, well behind so-called “working royals” such as William, Prince of Wales, and Princess Anne, the king’s sister. (Prince Harry was forbidden to wear a military uniform. P his face is partially obscured (because of the huge feather on Anne’s military cap, he suffered the double ignominy of sitting between Jack Brooksbank, the husband of his cousin Eugenia, and an 86-year-old minor royal named Princess Alexandra.)

And none stood with the rest of the family for the traditional appearance on the balcony of Buckingham Palace later that day.

Now that the coronation is over, King Charles can begin his reign in earnest, but it looks like it will be in 2023. Of course, not everyone is as excited as the crowds who waited outside in the rain to see him on Saturday. As the satirical magazine Private Eye described the coronation on its cover “Issuance of historical souvenirs”: “A man in a hat is sitting on a chair.”