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King Charles’s Absurd, Awe-Inspiring Coronation
Where does Britain keep all these horses and bishops the rest of the time?
Updated at 11:43 a.m. ET on May 8, 2023.
"Sometimes the scriptwriters of reality are a little too on the nose. The British throne, the centerpiece of today’s coronation of Charles III, not only houses a sacred artifact forcibly removed from its owners—the Stone of Destiny, taken from the Scots by Edward I in 1296—but is covered in schoolboy graffiti. According to one scrawl from 1800, someone named “P. Abbott” once slept in it. The Coronation Chair, as it’s officially known, also has damage from a 1914 bomb attack attributed to militant suffragettes.
It’s almost too much, isn’t it? The British monarchy is at once a symbol of colonialist plunder, a tradition that many Britons profess to love while cheerfully disrespecting, . . "
Read more > https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/05/charles-coronation-camilla-archbishop-britain/673970/
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‘The Coronation Concert’ Was a Sorry Sales Pitch for a Brand New King: TV Review
(Pictured: Take That)
"Ahead of the “Coronation Concert” – aired on the BBC on Sunday as the climax of the weekend’s royal celebrations – all the talk was of who wasn’t going to perform. Multiple A-listers (Adele, Ed Sheeran, Harry Styles et al.) were reported to have declined official invitations, and their wariness around hitching their brands to what often feels like Britain’s longest-running soap opera, currently scattering followers after a succession of unsavory plotlines, now seems understandable. Tonight, as we were confronted with the concert’s arbitrarily assembled ensemble, it’s clear we were probably only a few refusals away from witnessing the Duke of York bashing a tray with a spoon.
Hopes that the evening would prove a London Olympics-style triumph-over-adversity rapidly dimmed. If these two hours recalled anything, it wasn’t Danny Boyle’s opening ceremony, channelling Williams Blake, Morris and Shakespeare, but the justly forgotten closing ceremony, with its eggy whiff of Simons Cowell and Fuller. There was evident relief that Coronation Day’s downpours had relented, yet the clouds parted only to reveal a lot of money had been spent on very slim pickings indeed. . .
And with a vibrant “All Night Long,” Lionel Richie once again demonstrated he knows how to keep an audience in the palm of his hand. Briefly, the concert felt like a party, with awkward dancing in the Royal Box. The Queen cast a surreptitious glance at her watch. We were 45 minutes in.
Much of it, however, proceeded with no greater rhyme or reason than the James Nesbitt poem that built to the payoff “Please welcome Paloma Faith.” Who needed Adele? This was culture as interchangeable primetime pabulum; three minutes apiece for the acts to impress the new judges and boost sales. Great for them, of course. Not so reassuring for any commoners, faced with an ongoing cost-of-living crisis and swingeing arts cuts liable only to seal the drawbridge shut. As an illustration of the muddle the Windsors now find themselves in, the concert was second to none. But if I were a new monarch trying to rebrand the royal family, pointless extravagance wouldn’t have been my opening gambit."
The Coronation Concert is now streaming on the BBC iPlayer.
Read more > https://variety.com/2023/music/news/coronation-concert-tv-review-take-that-katy-perry-1235605733/
King Charles gives 'heartfelt' thanks as coronation celebrations end
LONDON, May 8 (Reuters) - King Charles on Monday gave "sincere and heartfelt" thanks to everyone involved in his coronation weekend and said he and his wife Camilla would rededicate their lives to service as three days of celebrations drew to a close.
Amid pomp and pageantry, Charles and Camilla were crowned at London's Westminster Abbey on Saturday in Britain's biggest ceremonial event in 70 years.
In an echo of his late mother Queen Elizabeth's Platinum Jubilee message last June, before she died three months later, Charles and Camilla reiterated their pledge to serve.
"As the Coronation weekend draws to a close, my wife and I just wanted to share our most sincere and heartfelt thanks to all those who have helped to make this such a special occasion," Charles said in a statement, paying tribute to those who made the weekend possible and those who joined in celebrations.
"To know that we have your support and encouragement, and to witness your kindness expressed in so many different ways, has been the greatest possible Coronation gift, as we now rededicate our lives to serving the people of the United Kingdom, the Realms and Commonwealth."
The statement came at the end of three days of celebrations, and was accompanied by four official photos of Charles, Camilla and members of the royal family. . .
DAZZLING SPECTACLE
Rounding off a long holiday weekend of street parties and celebrations, Monday saw thousands of organisations get together for a volunteering programme.
Charles' son William and his wife Kate took part in "The Big Help Out" by visiting a scout group in Slough, near Windsor, with their children. Kate is president of the Scout Association.
It was the first royal engagement for their younger son Louis, 5, who shovelled, pushed a wheelbarrow, and even operated a digger, with supervision from his father.
Other members of the royal family volunteered at events around the country, as did Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and leader of the opposition Labour Party Keir Starmer.
"On the weekend, I think no other country in the world could put on such a dazzling spectacle," Sunak told broadcasters.
"It was deeply moving to be in the coronation service and incredibly uplifting, and it's an experience I think that nobody will forget for the rest of their lives."
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