"Uneasy is the head that wears the crown "
William Shakespeare wrote, in his play Henry IV, way back in the sixteenth century. This sentiment was painfully obvious in watching the coronation of King Charles III on television yesterday. The true weight of office clearly visible as the man to be king was disrobed,anointed and redressed with the mighty myths,symbols and metaphors of King in the twenty first century. The ceremony which has been for a thousand years,never before witnessed so closely by so many people from all over the world. Whether you are for, against or indifferent to any or all of it,the coronation of this King was a transforming moment for many.
For me, there are so many threads, complementary and contradictory. The picture it creates, does not fit into a nutshell. The gradual introduction to the man , of gold cloth,jewelled sword, glove, orb,sceptres,crown, slowly but surely, visibly and profoundly adding weight and burden which was slowly, carefully carried by the man. At one point I thought I saw the Archbishop gently checking out if the man who is king was in fact ok .
The spiritual and temporal met in powerful union ,despite the diminished actual power this King has, the power enjoined in the ceremony,the history, tradition , physical and metaphysical meaning , of the whole thing ,was beyond my expectation.
In honour of this momentous day ,we celebrated in traditional style : scones,sandwiches and a pot of tea. How much history, colonialism, myth and metaphor could go into that . I suppose, our tea, like the day, full of debate and paradox, was best met ,by simply being thankful that we are here ,and being joyful that we are.