CORONATION

he United Kingdom geared up for the coronation of King Charles III and his wife, Queen Consort Camilla. Ever since the date for the coronation was announced, people across England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland had been preparing to welcome their incoming monarch to the throne. Hundreds of thousands of people were expected to congregate in central London to witness the event. Given that Britain remained the last Western European country that continued to keep up with the tradition of enthroning a monarch through an elaborate coronation, hundreds of millions of people worldwide tuned in to watch the ceremony live. As Britain turned a new leaf with the arrival of King Charles III, we have brought our readers a quick primer on the coronation and other ensuing events.

The ornate ceremony, as anticipated, incorporated centuries-old traditions that were customised to cater to modern sensibilities. King Charles III is an advocate for heralding modernity. This was reflected in the coronation ceremony.

Unlike his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, King Charles had a comparatively minimalist touch to the otherwise opulent ceremony. Charles III’s main coronation event was expected to be much shorter compared to his mother’s. There were no more than 2,800 guests in attendance—nearly a third of his mother’s attendance. As the titular head of the Church of England, the monarch is traditionally required to discharge his responsibility as the “defender of the faith.” But owing to modern Britain’s religious variety, King Charles III took an oath to be “the defender of faiths,” in sharp contrast to the former.

This inclination to inculcate modernity was largely observed as being an effort to pander to critics who claimed that the antiquated institution of monarchy no longer served any substantial purpose to the British public and should therefore be abolished. Many anti-monarchist groups took out nationwide protests on coronation day. In a comment to the Associate Press, the leader of an anti-monarchist group Republic had mentioned that they had planned to have more than 1,000 protesters clad in yellow chanting, “Not my king” as the royal procession passed by. Regardless, a large swathe of the British population celebrated the occasion with quintessential British resplendence.

King Charles III’s coronation took place on Saturday, May 6, 2023 at Westminster Abbey. The Anglican church has been the cornerstone of British royal ceremonial traditions for several centuries. Since around the mid-eleventh century AD, it had witnessed the coronations of thirty-nine English and British monarchs.

Attired in stately regalia, the King and Queen Consort both set off from their London residence, Buckingham Palace for an eight-kilometre ceremonial procession to Westminster Abbey. Other members of the monarch’s family also arrived as part of the procession. Once the King and Queen Consort reached Westminster Abbey, various ceremonial formalities ensued, including a speech by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The prime coronation comprised five parts: Recognition, Oath taking, Anointment, Investiture and Crowning and, Enthronement and Homage. This was then followed by the Coronation of Queen Consort Camilla. As soon as the new King was crowned, gun salutes rang out across the United Kingdom.

At the end of the ceremony, the newly crowned King and Queen retraced their route back to Buckingham Palace. This return procession after the ceremony was also shorter than the route that Queen Elizabeth III and her husband, Prince Philip, took around London after her coronation. Back at the Palace, they received an official royal salute from the British military.

After this, the King and Queen, flanked by family members, made their way to the Palace balcony to greet the spectators gathered to witness this once-ina-lifetime ceremony.

As was the tradition, coronation invites were sent out to dignitaries around the world. Some prominent royals in attendance included Japan’s Crown Prince Akishino and his wife, Crown Princess Kiko, and Spain’s King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his wife, Akshata Murthy, were also in attendance. While

American President Joe Biden was a no-show, his wife, the America’s First Lady Jill Biden, attended the ceremony on her country’s behalf. As for India, both President Draupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had already conveyed their inability to make it to the ceremony owing to prior appointments, and it was believed the country was instead represented by Vice President Jagdeep Dankhar.

As for the family, both the King’s sons were present. Prince William and his wife, Princess Katherine, were in attendance. As a matter of tradition, the Prince of Wales was expected to kneel before his father and pledge his loyalty to the new monarch. His younger brother, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, however, remained on the sidelines of the ceremony owing to the outrage with the family that ensued from the publication of his explosive memoir “Spare,” which made unflattering claims about his now estranged family. His wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, did not attend the ceremony and stayed back with the couple’s children at their California estate. The reason cited for her non-attendance was given as their son Archie’s fourth birthday.

The day following the coronation day saw the monarch encourage the citizens of his country to celebrate the occasion by organising community street parties across the length and breadth of Britain. To celebrate the coronation, the monarch also planned to host a concert on the grounds of Windsor Castle. The esteemed lineup included the Italian opera singer Andrea Bocelli and the Welsh bassbaritone Sir Bryn Terfel.

King Charles had been a longtime patron of polo, so much so that he passed on his passion for the game to both his sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, who themselves blazed a trail in the sport. The Royal Family is known for its patronage of many different sporting activities, but if there’s one sport in which they’ve actively participated, it would be none other than polo. Interestingly, the royals have been passionate polo players and polo watchers since the time of King George VI. Since then, there has been at least one senior member of the family that has participated in competitive polo. Prince

Philip, King Charles, along with both of King Charles’ sons: the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Sussex, have all tried their hand at the sport. Their prowess at it has been remarkable with them having swept up several trophies over the years. As for his siblings, King Charles’ sister Princess Anne is a prolific equestrian herself, winning one gold medal in 1971 and two silver medals in 1975 at the European Eventing Championships. In 1976, she became the first member of the British royal family to compete in the Olympic Games. Both of King Charles’ brothers on the other hand haven’t been as prolific on the equestrian front, but they ardently cheer on their siblings from the sidelines nonetheless. Charles was known for his unassuming poise and unwavering sense of responsibility, traits that he shared with his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, and his father, Prince Philip, who was a talented polo player with a 5-goal handicap. Unlike other hobbyists who merely rode show ponies, Charles was a skilled polo player in his own right.

King Charles’ polo passion saw him raise funds through the sport. Similarly, to increase participation in the sport, the royal family from time to time organized charitable matches to encourage young people to take up the sport. He also often contributed from his own wealth, considering the then Charles’ net worth of $600 million. Other royals were also known to raise money for humanitarian causes through polo. For instance, Prince Harry’s Sentebale Cup raised nearly £792 million in its lifetime, to create awareness around various humanitarian issues faced in Southern Africa. The raised money was then deployed to support work with children and young people in Southern Africa whose lives have been affected by extreme poverty among others.

It is said that King Charles inherited his love of the sport from his father, the Duke of Edinburgh Prince Phillip. Prince Phillip was in turn encouraged to take up the sport by his uncle, Lord Louis Mountbatten. Mountbatten himself had a close association with the sport, for he had authored one of the sport’s earliest books, An Introduction to Polo, which is an extensive guide on Polo. Charles’ passion for the sport began at a young age, and he was a regular participant at the Household Brigade Polo Club, which was later renamed the Guards Polo

Club, established by Prince Philip in 1955. At the age of 7, Charles was already holding a polo mallet and playing the sport with ease. His father gifted him his first polo pony, which only fueled his love for the game further. The young Charles also had the honour of playing polo matches alongside his father and took valuable input from him after the former retired from the sport. From his teen years right until his mid-forties, Charles was an avid player of competitive polo. Despite her lack of active participation in the sport, Prince Charles’s mother, Queen Elizabeth played a pivotal role in encouraging him to excel in polo. For most of his games, King Charles’s young family consisting of his wife and two sons often could be cheering him on from the sidelines. In his youth, the sport was considered a classic British High Society sport -- ‘with dashing young riders cheered on by champagne-guzzling debutantes’. The sport also has a personal element for the King given that the then King

Charles’ now-wife Camilla and he met during one of his earlier polo matches, sometime in the 1970s. Interestingly, he was also known to play the sport while on royal tours of other countries, the then Prince Charles in India was no different. Prince Charles showed off his skills in Jaipur during a tour of India in 1992. He continued to play the sport albeit with lesser intensity than previously, mostly for charity, until 2005. But the family’s polo tradition has lived on. Both his children, William and Harry, appear on the polo fields regularly, attracting an adoring coterie of fans from across the world.