Merrie olde England’s dysfunctional dynasty

THE EDITOR, Madam:

Having been a keen student of history and never mistaken for a maniacal monarchist, the coronation of King Charles and Queen Camilla was something that piqued my interest. Over many years, my regard of Britain’s royal family has evolved from disdain to a form of humorous entertainment, tinged with embarrassment for their overwhelming sense of elitism and entitlement, but that’s a discussion for another day.

For me, May 6 was a focus on religious ritual, history and numbers, although most were seldom mentioned by a huge battery of commentators from global news outlets. The coronation procession route of two kilometres from Buckingham Palace to and from Westminster Abbey necessitated not one, but two horse-drawn, golden state carriages; was protected by 9,000 policemen on duty; while 7,000 armed forces personnel participated in the extravaganza.

If those numbers are not staggering enough, there will be a yet-to-be-determined cost to British taxpayers that will probably be in the hundreds of millions of pounds. All this in a country struggling with double-digit inflation; a crisis in cost of living, with energy and food prices spiralling; and which had three different prime ministers in the span of three weeks only a few months ago. So many words were written and spoken about the new monarch, but I most enjoyed those of John Oliver, the England-born HBO comedian, who said that “Charles was a man only his mother could love, and only two cousins could produce” — referring to centuries of inbreeding between the crowned heads of Europe.

Having a seemingly unlimited budget as far as pageantry, pomp and circumstance goes, the coronation seemed to go off without a hitch. But, of course, it helps that England has been holding coronations at Westminster since 1066, when William the Conqueror was crowned on Christmas Day. It should also be remembered that King Alfred the Great defeated Vikings in May 878, in the West Saxon territory that expanded into the boundaries of present-day England about a century later.

The English monarchy since has been continuous, except for when Charles I was publicly executed after being found guilty of treason in 1649. He was eventually replaced by Oliver Cromwell, who ruled as Lord Protector until 1658, when Charles II was restored as monarch. So when the current monarchy is referred to as ‘The Firm’, it really is a centuries-old family business, and Queen Camilla has a family business of her own to add a little spice to the pot. Her great-great-grandmother was Alice Keppel, who was a favourite mistress of King Edward VII. She was even present along with his wife at his death bed, and he was great-great-grandfather of Charles. Just another sign of continuity in ‘merrie olde England’s dysfunctional dynasty’.

BERNIE SMITH

Parksville, BC

Canada