The Coronation was popular
The Coronation was watched by thousands of people in the Abbey, tens of thousands in the streets and millions on TV. Most of those who saw it were delighted. They found it a beautiful spectacle and a moving ceremony. Then there was the concert! Why would anyone object?
The Coronation was too traditional?
Really? In fact there were many innovations. It was not just a copy of the last one. But one of the values of monarchy is that it gives continuity. It was intended to remind us of the best features of our past which we can hopefully retain. All that ceremony is bound to appeal more to some of us than others, but most people thought it got the balance of old and new about right.
The Coronation was Christian
Although representatives of other faiths played a part, and the king swore to protect the rights of other faiths, it was decidedly a Christian service. Why not?
- All our monarchs have been members of the Christian Church
- Charles is himself a Christian.
- Christianity is still the largest single religion in the UK
- A multi-faith event could be too bland and unfocussed.
The people who were most left out were atheists, but there is no coherent atheist religion or non-religion to address. The promise to protect other faiths obviously implies tolerance of non-faiths too.
Let us remember that religion has been found to be healthy as I explained in another post. If you are not quite an atheist but not exactly religious, you might like my book, How to Cope with the Church.
The Coronation monopolised the TV
It was certainly right to give this unique occasion full coverage on the day. However I don’t see why it was on so many BBC channels at once, depriving people of an alternative. It was reasonable to put on special programmes in the run-up to the event, but they were not news and should not have dominated the news bulletins. The same is true of the World Cup and the Olympics.
What about republicans?
It is a fair complaint that the only interviews broadcast were with pro-monarchy people. Republicans and other negative critics were seldom shown and there was minimal news coverage of the anti-monarchy demonstrations, which were news. All points of view deserve recognition and intelligent discussion.
King Charles needs to reach out to republicans and try to understand their point of view. However, they need to accept that he IS our king. “Not my king” makes as much sense as saying “not my government” if you didn’t vote Conservative. We are where we are. Republicans need to face reality as much as monarchists.