A majestic procession filled with symbols and emblems of centuries, which make up the history of the United Kingdom, will start next Saturday from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey, where in a mystical atmosphere the coronation ceremony of King Charles III will take place.
It is, of course, not necessary to point out that only on these islands could this event happen, which perhaps someone would hasten to describe as unreal. Especially in a time – like today – when the “constants” of the world order of things are literally being shaken, without being able to assess where, finally, we are headed.
The gilded crown, for example, on the carriage that will carry the royal couple to the abbey is from the oak of Lord Nelson’s flagship, HMS Victory, at the Battle of Trafalgar. Inside the carriage is a piece of the dress of the legendary Florence Nightingale, who treated the wounded of the Crimean War in Istanbul in the mid-19th century.
The carriage in which the couple will return to the palace from the abbey was first used by King George III in 1762, when he traveled to attend the opening of Parliament.
A few years later, the tax imposed by the Parliament on the tea that would be imported by the colonists of America, was the cause of the American Revolution against the “tyranny” of George, who, however, simply signed the decision of the Parliament, the most democratic political institution of that time on a global level.
But the symbolism doesn’t stop there. In the first phase of the ceremony, Charles will wear the crown of St. Edward, which was made for the coronation of Charles II of the Stuart dynasty. Charles will then wear the Imperial Crown, which was made in 1937 on the model of Victoria’s crown. And of course will come the supreme moment of anointing, which the king receives from the Archbishop of Canterbury.
All this, of course, has nothing to do with the real powers of Charles III. Because as early as 1748 the Frenchman Montesquieu described Britain as a “republican disguised as a monarchy”.
And this because after the impeachment of Charles I in 1649, power passed to the Parliament. The monarch embodies majesty, resides in a vast palace and as bearer of the Crown holds together the four nations of the United Kingdom.
Power is exercised by the current prime minister, who resides in a “ready-made and crudely built house of some profiteering contractor” (George Downing), as Churchill wrote. The only prime minister to have served from his family’s palace at Hatfield was Lord Salisbury.
Incidentally, the president of republican France resides in the 365-room Elysee Palace and wields more power than the president of the United States. Rightly so, an English historian had characterized France as a “republican monarchy”.
