I made scones for the coronation today. These are vegan, salt-free, and scrumptious.
I watched most of the coronation while I was knitting. It’s fascinating to see people who are not actors do and say things that would be more fitting in a historical TV drama series.
The British are very good at retaining customs and traditions and I rather appreciate it. Aside from getting a history lesson I imagine it must be important for tourism. Many cultures have customs that date back hundreds of years, maybe even thousands, and when you visit those countries as a tourist that’s what you want to see. You don’t want to see bland, modern stuff that you might see in your own country. You want to see something different, cultural and traditional like the Haka in New Zealand or a tea ceremony in Japan. We should cling to these quirky aspects of our history no matter how silly or dated they may seem because they make our lives richer.
I also enjoyed the music, especially Zadok the Priest which has always been a favourite of mine. I thought Penny Mordaunt did an excellent job of holding a sword upright in front of her face for several hours. Her arms must have been aching. And I thought the “anointing” part of the ceremony sounded a bit like the King was being basted in preparation for baking in the oven. Hopefully it’s not traitorous to say that (God save the King!!!) .
Different faiths were also invited to participate which I thought was a nice touch. Compare this to Richard I’s coronation in 1189 which was recounted by a Rabbi on Twitter today.
I even appreciated the protestors. How wonderful is it to live in a society with freedom of speech and freedom of belief. Once a upon a time anyone protesting against the king of the day would have been beheaded. Thomas Moore, the chancellor of England from 1529 to 1532 was beheaded for refusing to accept King Henry VIII as head of the church of England. Today the protestors were chanting, “Not my King!” and they were lawfully allowed to do that. Thankfully no one was beheaded.
England did abolish the monarchy once before, in 1649 when Charles I was executed and Oliver Cromwell took over. However 10 years later the monarchy was back. This is partly because Cromwell was an oppressive bore who took away all the fun, shutting down theatres, ale houses and strictly enforcing protestantism. Cromwell’s son Richard took over after his death but his lack of authority and competence meant he was quickly removed and the monarchy returned on the proviso that the King rule in cooperation with parliament. And so paved the way for the constitutional monarchy that we have today.
In a sense the people who form the monarchy are a bit like celebrities except that they are celebrities who serve us, the people. We may not vote them in but they need the favour of the people to continue to exist as they do. I have no idea how long the current system will last but I like King Charles and I appreciate his advocacy for the environment and the natural world which he has been doing for decades, long before it became fashionable to do so. And of course I am very thankful for a day off work on Monday 🙂
Perhaps I’ll end with the coronation logo which is a wonderful design by Jony Ive who was the chief design officer at Apple when the iPhone first captured the world’s attention. It includes the flower of each of the four nations: rose for England, thistle for Scotland, daffodil for Wales, and shamrock for Northern Ireland.
rachel.blog 
I watched part of it live, and will watch the rest on replay. I was amused to see some of the horses have a wee play-up along the way. Of course, the riders are expert horsemen (I think they were all men) so no horses ran amock 🙂
Did you see Princess Anne riding a horse after the ceremony?
No – I only watched the highlights, which ended at the end of the ceremony. I’ll go looking for it now, though. I did hear her say in an interview that she had accepted a role as part of Charles’s protection detail, so that would be why she got on the horse, I expect.