PUT A CROWN ON IT
The British have been crowning kings and queens for more than a thousand years, and they’ve got it down to a routine.
King Charles has made a great big deal of how he’s trying to modernize the ceremony and make it more reflective of the current world, and that’s certainly his prerogative (like what I did there?) but this is still an ancient ceremony. And it’s still based on a medieval – or earlier – view of the world and leaders.
You can get the political and cultural argument somewhere else. Let’s just agree that there’s a lot going on here that is inappropriate, uncomfortable, or just plain weird in any other context and move on.
So, for the non-history nerds among us, a quick hit on the highlights.
Most of what you’ll see, live and on video afterward, will be a lot of driving and walking around. Since the ancient Egyptian pharaohs, kings have understood that showing yourself to the adoring populace is a key part of the job. That means fancy processions. If you watched any of the ceremonies for the late Queen, it will look a lot like that, without the touches of black mourning.
We know King Charles has planned a shorter procession route and asked many participants to wear business suits instead of the velvet and ermine robes of coronations past. That means there’ll be a lot less glitter and freaky outfits than usual, which will disappoint some royal watchers. He and his Queen, Camilla, will still ride in a special coach from the 18th century, surrounded by plenty of ceremonial guards on horseback, so we’ll at least get that.
Once the King and his court assemble at Westminster Abbey (itself over a thousand years old!) the driving around will be replaced by walking around. The King and the Queen, with their retinue – a fancy word for fancily dressed folks – will proceed into the sanctuary, to be met by Church of England clergy in full vestments.
At this point, it becomes a religious service. King Charles has talked about making it an ecumenical event, and we may well see clergy from other faiths. But the Coronation was originally intended as a way of consecrating a monarch and marking him or her off as God’s chosen leader. Most of what you’ll see – or not see – in the ceremony itself stems from that.
So there will be plenty of prayers for the King, the Queen and their reign, as well as for Britain itself. There will also be an anointing ceremony, the actual religious moment of using holy oil to consecrate the King and Queen as sovereigns.
For centuries, the anointing was considered the most sacred and important moment of a coronation, even more than the crowning. Even in 1953, Queen Elizabeth II considered it such an important private religious ceremony that it was the only part of her service not televised.
Eventually, we’ll get to the actual coronation, when the king will bow before the Archbishop of Canterbury and the prelate will put the crown on his head. That’s the way it’s done in most Western monarchies…but it’s not the only possibility. The first French emperor Napoleon crowned himself, and Russian tsars did the same.
Once crowned, the sovereigns get all kinds of stuff. The king gets a gold orb, rod, and scepter, the queen a couple of scepters, all priceless, hundreds of years old and laden with symbolism.
Until now, the next step was the homage. All the nobles would come kneel before the King and pledge loyalty. Think King Arthur’s Court. King Charles apparently plans more of a virtual homage, with the folks at home chanting along. Okay.
And then?
You guessed it, more walking and driving around now that everyone is official.
A lot of it looks and sounds silly to us in the 21st century. But remember, for most of the last thousand years, people were perfectly willing to kill and die over this. And thousands, maybe millions, actually did.
There’s a lot going on under all that glitter.
Got a #ThrowbackThursday idea? Drop it in the Comments!
King Charles has made a great big deal of how he’s trying to modernize the ceremony and make it more reflective of the current world, and that’s certainly his prerogative (like what I did there?) but this is still an ancient ceremony. And it’s still based on a medieval – or earlier – view of the world and leaders.
You can get the political and cultural argument somewhere else. Let’s just agree that there’s a lot going on here that is inappropriate, uncomfortable, or just plain weird in any other context and move on.
So, for the non-history nerds among us, a quick hit on the highlights.
Most of what you’ll see, live and on video afterward, will be a lot of driving and walking around. Since the ancient Egyptian pharaohs, kings have understood that showing yourself to the adoring populace is a key part of the job. That means fancy processions. If you watched any of the ceremonies for the late Queen, it will look a lot like that, without the touches of black mourning.
We know King Charles has planned a shorter procession route and asked many participants to wear business suits instead of the velvet and ermine robes of coronations past. That means there’ll be a lot less glitter and freaky outfits than usual, which will disappoint some royal watchers. He and his Queen, Camilla, will still ride in a special coach from the 18th century, surrounded by plenty of ceremonial guards on horseback, so we’ll at least get that.
Once the King and his court assemble at Westminster Abbey (itself over a thousand years old!) the driving around will be replaced by walking around. The King and the Queen, with their retinue – a fancy word for fancily dressed folks – will proceed into the sanctuary, to be met by Church of England clergy in full vestments.
At this point, it becomes a religious service. King Charles has talked about making it an ecumenical event, and we may well see clergy from other faiths. But the Coronation was originally intended as a way of consecrating a monarch and marking him or her off as God’s chosen leader. Most of what you’ll see – or not see – in the ceremony itself stems from that.
So there will be plenty of prayers for the King, the Queen and their reign, as well as for Britain itself. There will also be an anointing ceremony, the actual religious moment of using holy oil to consecrate the King and Queen as sovereigns.
For centuries, the anointing was considered the most sacred and important moment of a coronation, even more than the crowning. Even in 1953, Queen Elizabeth II considered it such an important private religious ceremony that it was the only part of her service not televised.
Eventually, we’ll get to the actual coronation, when the king will bow before the Archbishop of Canterbury and the prelate will put the crown on his head. That’s the way it’s done in most Western monarchies…but it’s not the only possibility. The first French emperor Napoleon crowned himself, and Russian tsars did the same.
Once crowned, the sovereigns get all kinds of stuff. The king gets a gold orb, rod, and scepter, the queen a couple of scepters, all priceless, hundreds of years old and laden with symbolism.
Until now, the next step was the homage. All the nobles would come kneel before the King and pledge loyalty. Think King Arthur’s Court. King Charles apparently plans more of a virtual homage, with the folks at home chanting along. Okay.
And then?
You guessed it, more walking and driving around now that everyone is official.
A lot of it looks and sounds silly to us in the 21st century. But remember, for most of the last thousand years, people were perfectly willing to kill and die over this. And thousands, maybe millions, actually did.
There’s a lot going on under all that glitter.
Got a #ThrowbackThursday idea? Drop it in the Comments!
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