Charles looked so small under St Edward's Crown. In a way, I think that's the point; the institution is far greater than the man or woman charged with upholding it. I don't envy him. He looked almost sorrowful, but in a remarkably reassuring way. Genuinely humbled by the sheer scope and scale of what was going on around him. No one person is ever meant to be at the centre of that kind of attention. I'm glad he's the age he is. Most Kings are egomaniacal lunatics. This one might be old enough to transcend that. To be fair, though, he can't just up and decide to invade France like so many of his predecessors. On the upside, beheading is fairly unlikely.
I wonder how many who watched it appreciated or understood much of the profound religiosity of the ceremony. Say what one might about Catholics and Anglicans, but they sure know how to harness the power of spectacle and symbolism. I was an altar boy in my youth (no jokes, please) so I think I'm hardwired to connect with this kind of thing. Grandeur and glory; it's as real and as moving as we allow it to be. I can't help it, but I look at Charles differently now. I might be Republican, but I experienced the Coronation on a level different to the way I experience (disdainfully) the role of monarchy in my Australian (and familial) context. Is Charles my King? Technically, yes. There are a lot of technicalities in the world. To borrow from the Bard, monarchical fealty is a custom more honoured in the breach than in the observance for this Australian. I know I'm not alone.
Ritual is incredibly poignant and powerful because it's a manifestation of sublime intention, or a desire for profound meaning. We'd be a poorer world without it, regardless of its cultural iteration. Kingship isn't just about power - despite what many Kings believed - but about divine guidance and a collective human will to move beyond mere survival. It's an attempt to create order and stability. And coronations are meant to be awe-inspiring spectacles, that valorise the notion that the crowned is God's anointed. Surely you don't have to believe in it to appreciate it. I doubt atheism prevents folk from appreciating divinely inspired music.
Find me a perfect system of government or leadership, or a society with institutions that allow it to transcend human weakness and I'll buy you a steak dinner. We are who we are. And sometimes, the best of who we are is who we pretend to be. Never underestimate the transportive, transformative power of belief. A crown's just a hat; a football a leathery bag of wind, a wedding ring a shiny circle. We allow them to become more than mere objects by embracing the idea of them, or at the very least, engaging on some kind of human level with the belief of others, even if it's a belief we don't share.
Call it a load of old bollocks, if you like. Nothing wrong with that. But by looking at it differently, I experienced something I'll remember. I look forward to find out what I'll do with that memory.
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