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The coronation is*the*great state occasion. Its roots are biblical – in the Book of Kings, the King is crowned and anointed in the temple and all the people shout ‘God save the King’. In England, coronation ceremonies existed well before the Norman Conquest, and the Normans themselves drew on the coronation of Charlemagne in 800. In Scotland, the coronation had separate, mediaeval origins. The two nations’ ceremonies united in 1714: George I’s oath spoke of ‘this kingdom of Great Britain’.
Contrary to myth, the coronation’s essential elements were not invented by late-Victorian imperialists. They are much older and deeper. They bring together church and state. They are pre-modern, and therefore pre-democratic, but imply the consent of the people and exemplify the need of kingship to stand before them.
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According to the historian John Martin Robinson: ‘State ceremonial should be treated like a great historic building with respect for elements of different dates and significance.’ A spectacle the coronation certainly is, but not mere show. All its elements contain meaning.
Both church and state should guard this meaning. So far, vigilance has not been displayed. The traditional proclamation of the coronation takes place – as, movingly, did that of the King’s accession last month – from the balcony of St James’s Palace. But last week it was dropped without explanation, apparently by the Earl Marshal, the Duke of Norfolk, who oversees ceremonial. In the past, the Court of Claims heard the claims of those with hereditary rights to coronation roles, such as the King’s Champion, who rode armoured into Westminster Hall and threw down the gauntlet to anyone challenging the new monarch. The Dymoke family from Lincolnshire holds the hereditary right to be Champion, and an existing Dymoke stands ready. This time, the court will not sit.
The press has been briefed that the service will be ‘stripped back’. It will also be dressed down. Lt. Colonel Anthony Mather, who formerly worked on coronation plans for the royal household, announced last week that peers will not wear their coronation robes: ‘Give them [the robes, not the peers] to a museum where they belong,’ he says. He wants ‘morning suit or lounge suit’ only. In the past, Ede & Ravenscroft have been the principal tailors for such occasions. At the time of writing, they are still awaiting orders. The time is quite tight.
No doubt some modernisations are needed, but is it a good idea for people like Col. Mather to decree what should be consigned to a museum? Do they really know?
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