From the desk of Roland Rocchiccioli – 27 November

In 2022, few are inclined to believe King Charles III was ordained by God to rule over his peoples. The Divine Right of Kings is no longer.

BUCKINGHAM Palace has announced details of His Majesty’s coronation set down for 6 May 2023. It will be a shorter than Queen Elizabeth’s three-hour coronation service in June 1952.

The 1952, Westminster Abbey coronation was a much-needed public spectacle – a vivid splash of colour across a drab English landscape, scarred and wearied by six years of war. Elizabeth was a beautiful, young woman; her husband a dashing, good-looking, naval officer.

The world watched the ancient service based on a thousand years of tradition. Some of its meaning is lost in the mists of time; some parts altered for purpose and advantage. For those who remember the day, it was a never-to-be-forgotten event. Such was its significance it forged a bond between the crown the people. When Elizabeth visited Australia in 1952, it were as if the Gods had descended from Mount Olympus to walk among the throng.

The Queen was one the most recognisable women in the world; paradoxically, she was, also, the world’s most private public person. An enigma. Her silence was the power of her magic.

King Charles is, technically, an elderly gent. Aged 74, he is the oldest monarch, ever, to ascend the throne.

The King’s coronation should reflect the societal changes of the tumultuous years since 1952. The two zeitgeists are diametrically opposed. The unbridled deference once accorded royals is no longer. Class structure is less defined. If the monarchy is to survive into the distant time it must, perforce, adjust its modus operandi. Accessible but not banal.

The crown is an important national symbol. The King is its physical manifestation. In modern times it is purely ceremonial. While it is His Majesty’s government, he holds now real power. It is in the sovereign’s prerogative, ‘to caution, to advise, and to warn’ the government of the day. The crown is a constant, symbolic reminder of the pledge between the monarchy and the people. The ritual, culminating in the crowning, is an affirmation of that ancient arrangement harking to the coronation of William the Conqueror, Christmas Day, 1066.

While England does ‘pomp and circumstance’ like no other nation, the death of Elizabeth, the last of her celebrated epoch, affords an opportunity to pause and consider; to eliminate the irrelevant panoply. To embrace modernity. While the coronation is religious, and affirms the link between the monarch and the church, its Christian tenets do not automatically reflect a national unity. The sacred anointing of the monarch, binding them to the role till death, is an anachronism in this age of instant communication.

Innovation is imperative; however, we should be cautious not to discard the past; indeed, it should serve to guide the future. Hopefully, with age and experience comes wisdom, but that should not preclude the passing of the baton to the next generation.

The monarchy of the Netherlands is sworn-in with a signing and an investing of state robes, the Danish monarchy is proclaimed from the palace balcony, the Swedish monarchy takes an oath of regal assurance. The regalia is displayed but not given to the monarch.

King Charles has an active penchant for the grand occasion. This coronation demands caution and a sensitivity to the fiscal times; an appreciation of ethnicity. Too grand a display might alienate, rather than unite, the people whom he is committed to serve.

Roland can be heard with Brett Macdonald Mondays at 10.45am on 3BA and contacted via [email protected].