The Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla, 6 May 2023


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Somebody said:
The oath seemed a very minor part in the whole ceremony while in many countries that seems the central piece of any change in reign. Would this be because he is repeating the oath he already swore on the day after he became king?
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Because other countries lack the anointing and crowning, the focal point here.
 
RoyalNight said:
I totally agree with you! I’ve noticed that posters here love to interpret the smallest things. Yesterday, I’ve read that Camilla looked nervous, bored, serene and relaxed. It was all about the same five minutes :rofl Some wrote she looked great, some wrote she looked exhausted. Same for the King, he was emotional, tearful and bored. Someone looked at someone else and it was “look of love “ and for me it was just a look:lol: We really go overboard with this interpretations of the smallest looks and gestures.
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People have always enjoyed doing this. Don't understand why. Just their personality, I guess, to look for something trivial to comment about. The media has done this for years to blow things out of proportion. It seems to be a very human thing all over the world. More so now since most people on socials don't use their own names so their true nature comes out. Everyone kvetches at one time or another about something. When you get to my old age of 81 you will just laugh over most of it. JMO
 
Prinsara said:
Because other countries lack the anointing and crowning, the focal point here.
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I understand that there are other important parts but still the oath itself could be given a more prominent place than someone softly reading (almost mumbling) a text from a paper while seated in his chair.

Asking him to stand while taking the oath would already have made a huge difference imho.
 
Durham said:
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In 1953 there was a barrier separating the congregation from the (carpeted) central aisle in the nave. Gentlemen at Arms were then able to escort the monarch. This looked suitably grand. Of course it meant pushing the congregation further back to create a wider central processional route. This could easily have been recreated at minimal expense.
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Agree on this. I truly missed the usual red/blue carpet on the aisle, it truly added a regal touch. The aisle looked messy without the barrier.

The entrance to the abbey literally looked like the entrance to a random hotel. Also, it would have allowed to maintain the floor “visually” dry. An Annex was not needed ofc, but a red carpet was a really the minimum viable option, IMO. It’s the Coronation but - visually - 2/3 of the Abbey looked like a normal non-memorable Service.

Also didn’t understand why King Charles kept passing through the right side of the Unknown Warrior Tomb, while it was obvious that he should passed only through the other. They were squeezing to go through that small hallway.
 
Somebody said:
I understand that there are other important parts but still the oath itself could be given a more prominent place than someone softly reading (almost mumbling) a text from a paper while seated in his chair.
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Going back to an earlier comment, I think the "mumbling" is due to the King's natural voice and pitch these days. Also a large part of the oaths actually consists of short answers to questions, as opposed to the King himself saying what he promises to do as in other countries. The Archbishop does most of the talking.
 
Alisa said:
I can't decide if Queen Camilla having her children, grandchildren, and her dogs embroidered on her dress is a cute gesture of it's downright tacky.

Zara falling asleep is just downright comical. This is exactly why you should always get a good night's rest before major TELEVISED events such as these.

Princess Beatrice's response to Prince Richard is downright shameful and disrespectful. I am wondering if there is animosity behind this. After all Prince Richard still enjoys the full perks of being royal (ex. balcony appearance) and Princess Beatrice does not.
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Well, it´s cute on a private dress, but a coronation dress, which will be kept and preserved for the next centuries to come, it is not appropriate. I think the old Queen was right by having floral emblems representing the State sewed into it!

Here what the british TV channels did not broadcast, a video of all the foreign Royals and the minor british Royals entering - unfortunately mute. I was a bit shocked to see how frail Pr. Michael of Kent has become...
 
Somebody said:
I understand that there are other important parts but still the oath itself could be given a more prominent place than someone softly reading (almost mumbling) a text from a paper while seated in his chair.

Asking him to stand while taking the oath would already have made a huge difference imho.
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But you think it should be important because you're basing it on ceremonies where it's the only thing, and here there are far more important parts.

IIRC George VI was absolutely terrified of this, and I don't think making him stand up and say it louder would have produced a better effect then.
 
Lilyflo said:
I want to have a whinge about the bouquet and the floral installations in the abbey but it's probably a niche view and I might bore everyone to death so I'll just say I was utterly underwhelmed and expected much better.
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Amen to that. I thought it must be my Dutch approach but now I see I was not the only one underwhelmed by the (lack of) floral arrangements.
 
Penny Mordaunt, the Leader of the House of Commons, is attracting a lot of attention for her lovely dress and for carrying that very heavy sword upright.
 
Hans-Rickard said:
He was obviously telling them that they were chatting too loud - and instead of saying sorry and waited with the ****-chat until they would have been outside 5 minutes later, or just remained silent - she responds as a typical York……..

Wonder if she would have looked back like that if it was Prince Philip who silenced them…
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How do you know? The moment he turned around, nobody was chatting. It looked like he was just turning while saying nothing at all. Beatrice noticed that and just smiled at him - and that was that. I cannot see any offence against anybody.. That´s how nasty rumours are made...
 
Alison H said:
Penny Mordaunt, the Leader of the House of Commons, is attracting a lot of attention for her lovely dress and for carrying that very heavy sword upright.
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I thought she looked magnificent and she carried out that duty perfectly. I heard her saying she'd been doing press-ups to strengthen her shoulders and arms!
 
JGio said:
Agree on this. I truly missed the usual red/blue carpet on the aisle, it truly added a regal touch. The aisle looked messy without the barrier.

The entrance to the abbey literally looked like the entrance to a random hotel. Also, it would have allowed to maintain the floor “visually” dry. An Annex was not needed ofc, but a red carpet was a really the minimum viable option, IMO. It’s the Coronation but - visually - 2/3 of the Abbey looked like a normal non-memorable Service.

Also didn’t understand why King Charles kept passing through the right side of the Unknown Warrior Tomb, while it was obvious that he should passed only through the other. They were squeezing to go through that small hallway.
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I agree, but from my point of view, there were some aspects being messy yesterday!
Concering the King passing the right side of the tomb was absolutely correct! No matter "squeezing" it was, as the Sovereign, protocol dictates he had to go the right side. Just like the late Queen, the sovereign always enters (and leaves) the Abbey on this side of the tomb, while the consort chosses the other side! The same at the so called coronation theatre. Yesterday the thrones were not put on a five stepped dais (perhaps because of the advanced age of the royal couple), so that C and C could walk through the middle of the throne chairs. Normally the Qu. consort passes the dais left, while the regnant monarch goes right. After the coronation and during the Te Deum, both King and Queen walked into the Chapel of Edward the Confessor, but the Queen always chose the left entrance while he went into the right one. You can observe this in old movietone films made for the coronation of George VI and Queen Elizabeth (yesterday, things were handled a bit different)! Of course Elizabeth II, as Regnant, always walked exactly the ways a male monarch would choose, meaning she entered St Edward´s chapel through the "Sovereign´s entrance" on the right hand side of the altar and left through it, too. If you ever watched the colour film from the 1953 coronation, "A Queen is crowned", you can also see that the late Queen, after the service, as the sovereign, moved towards the right side of the tomb of the unknown soldier, leaving the Abbey.
 
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Could the royal ladies wear tiaras with the order robes? I have only seen QEII wear garter robes with tiara in portraits, she usually wore the hat out?
 
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wartenberg7 said:
How do you know? The moment he turned around, nobody was chatting. It looked like he was just turning while saying nothing at all. Beatrice noticed that and just smiled at him - and that was that. I cannot see any offence against anybody.. That´s how nasty rumours are made...
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Seems like some people like jumping to conclusions when/if they have an agenda. I find situations like this especially funny when the involved have not outright displayed the character or done the actions they have been accused of beforehand.
 
I agree : it's downrigt malicious.
 
wartenberg7 said:
I agree, but from my point of view, there were some aspects being messy yesterday!
Concering the King passing the right side of the tomb was absolutely correct! No matter "squeezing" it was, as the Sovereign, protocol dictates he had to go the right side.
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Thank you for explaining but then why the right side was so “tight” with many people seating while the other was much larger? I think there was a reason.
 
Mrs Zelenska keeps posting pictures with royals and their well-wishes. Worth seeing her twitter.
 
Mbruno said:
Do you think they knew each other before the rehearsals? I hope they keep in touch.
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Don't his parents know Lord Oliver Chomondeley's family? No idea about the other two.

A reunion in future years would be great, especially for a shyer-side person like Georgie (who seems to have had a very good time with this).
 
People should not be so worked up about the non-royals who were on the balcony!! They were there as attendants and pages, like the bridal party at a wedding, they go with the couple and are included in the photos!!! They were not there as Camilla’s family members!! And not at the expense of the working royals on the side or the non-working royals who were not on the balcony!! If things were different we might have gotten a generations family configuration and extended royal family configuration on the balcony.
 
Are there any photographs of Prince Bernhard and Princess Stephanie of Baden and Prince Philipp and Princess Saskia of Hohenlohe-Langenburg in Westminster Abbey?
 
LaBettie said:
People should not be so worked up about the non-royals who were on the balcony!! They were there as attendants and pages, like the bridal party at a wedding, they go with the couple and are included in the photos!!! They were not there as Camilla’s family members!! And not at the expense of the working royals on the side or the non-working royals who were not on the balcony!! If things were different we might have gotten a generations family configuration and extended royal family configuration on the balcony.
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I guess I missed the complaints about non royals on the balcony. I thought the concept was the same as weddings too. And- it’s a nice gesture. Royal weddings, the coronation come with a lot of extra stress and preparation. Getting to stand on the balcony is just a nice gesture on the part of the monarch.
 
andrew said:
EDIT: In fact, I would even retract some of what I said before. It probably cost the Princess of Wales much more to commission that floral headpiece she was wearing, which had to be custom-made for the coronation, than if she had worn Queen Mary's Lover's Knot tiara for example, which is available to her at no cost.
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Exactly!!
It is ridiculous that they think it is somehow more cost effective to wear something newly commissioned than to wear an heirloom! It is absurd! I would ban the royals wearing something else than heirlooms or gifts given them in their capacity as Royals, when they represent the monarchy. At private events they could wear whatever they like.[/QUOTE]

In my view, leaving the tiaras home was not about cost effectiveness per se but about creating a certain tone. Seeing the royal ladies in diamond tiaras would have seemed ridiculously old-fashioned, no matter how beautiful we all think a tiara can be. I suspect the king wants to project the idea that times are changing. I liked the Princess of Wales headpiece, and the Duchess of Edinburgh's was OK too, although I thought it looked like it belonged at Ascot rather than a coronation. Catherine's was suitably formal.
 
FigTree said:
They use incense? In all my time alive never seen incense in any Protestant church. It is such a catholic thing.
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If you want to see "high Anglican" watch the streamed services from Canterbury Cathedral. In particular, I saw incense was used over the Easter weekend. I have heard Anglican priests refer to "mass".
 
Spheno said:
It's a shame there were no tiaras but it was still magical... The late Queen's childhood friend LADY GLENCONNER is one of the few to have attended both her and Charles's Coronations. Here, she compares Saturday's celebration with 1953
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/columni...pares-Saturdays-Coronation-Majestys-1953.html
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The article is really interesting and well worth the read. .I must admit I laughed aloud about the ladies & their handbags although I'm sure it was not funny for those who had to use such extreme measures because there were no lavatories!
 
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Purrs said:
The article is really interesting and well worth the read. .I must admit I laughed aloud about the ladies & their handbags although I'm sure it was funny for those who had to use such extreme measures because there were no lavatories!
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"Queen Elizabeth’s pages were given swords and, of course, had begun to attack each other at the earliest opportunity, as boys can’t resist a sword fight. I did wonder whether that was why the pages on Saturday hadn’t been given swords."
 
Purrs said:
The article is really interesting and well worth the read. .I must admit I laughed aloud about the ladies & their handbags although I'm sure it was funny for those who had to use such extreme measures because there were no lavatories!
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I think there were and are several lavatories at the Abbey, just very few. According to this article workmen dismantling the scaffolding at WA in 1953 after the Coronation, found urine and piles of poo underneath where guests had retreated when they couldn’t hold on.
One guest at this past weekend had timed his toilet breaks for days so as to hold on for four hours!
Sorry for the subject matter of the article, but even sorrier for the guests!

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-...es-coronation-westminster-abbey-b2333746.html
 
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