6th of May, 2023. Today is the coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla, here in the United Kingdom. As a nation, we are pretty good at this pageantry business, and the ceremony is truly beautiful.

Some screenshots from the BBC coverage, and some of the official graphics.

As Countess of Langstonedale, Lady Jasmine, along with the entire household, wish their majesties a long and happy reign.

Long live the King!

Man in hat sits on chair..

Katy Perry looked pretty fit mind..

I've only seen a little of it, but it was the important part. He had the crown on his head.

One of your pictures piqued my interest. It's the green man with the leaves instead of hair.

So for all who wondered:

https://www.express.co.uk/news/royal/1755014/king-charles-coronation-invite-green-man

Nessie

Officially, Charles III is the supreme governor of the Church of England and hence a protestant Christian. However he's long had an interest in the environment and new age practices - he was warning of the dangers of degrading the natural world when most environmentalists were still being regarded as cranks and crackpot. There was a noticeable neo-pagan symbolism in the coronation, the anointing screens had the tree of life, and the green man on the invites, and the ceremony included celebrants from many different faiths, including Hindu, Sikh, Jewish, and Muslim, as well as Roman Catholic, Methodist, and Orthodox Christian, as well as CofE. Charles is modernising and changing the monarchy, possibly in ways not everyone has yet forseen.

Why is Camilla Queen and not Queen Consort?

She was originally to be known as Queen Consort as decreed by Queen Elizabeth II but King Charles wanted her to be known as Queen Camilla instead.
And well... since he is King...!

Camilla was approved as consort by Queen lizzie the 2nd chuckles can't change that.

Because following the coronation that's her offifial title. Effectively the UK has two types of queens, those who rule in their own right as monarch, as Elizabeth I, II, and Victoria did, and those who are queens because their husbands are monarch, as applied to the wives of all the married kings. When someone is queen-by-marriage, they are "queen consort" before their husband's coronation, and "queen" after it.

There's more detail here, Her Majeaty Queen Elizabeth II had made it known she wanted Camilla to be known as Queen Consort when Charles inherrited, and that she would therefore become Queen Camilla at Charles' coronation, in accordance with tradition.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-60274816

The Queen has said she wants Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, to be known as Queen Consort when Prince Charles becomes King.

In a message marking the 70th anniversary of her reign, the Queen said it was her "sincere wish" that Camilla would have that title.

And in particular, a fair way down:

On the eve of her Jubilee, the Queen directly addressed the unresolved question of Camilla's future title.

"Queen Consort" refers to the spouse of a ruling king and would mean "Queen Camilla" as her future title.

There had been suggestions Camilla would be known as Princess Consort.

A Clarence House spokesman said the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall were "touched and honoured".

There has been a different practice for husbands of a female monarch, such as Prince Philip, who was prince consort.

The usual precedent would have been for Camilla to automatically become Queen when Charles was King, but because of uncertainty about public opinion it had been suggested that might not be the case.

Personally I have no issue with Queen Camilla. Yes, the history is complex and what happened to Diana was tragic - and entirely the fault of the paparazzi, had they not chased the car that night, the crash would not have happened. But none of us can go back and change things that, with hindsight, we might wish we'd done differently. All any of us can do is make the best of the situation we ultimately find ourselves in, and try and learn from our mistakes.

I'd like to think the royal family have learned from their own history, note how William and Kate were given as long as they wanted to decide whether to make the relationship permanent, no rushing to achieve a fairytale wedding. That I think is progress.

As for Diana, she's very much a favourite of Lady Jasmine, who's encouraged me to learn more about her than I used to know. She's also a big fan of Prince Harry. A tragic loss, and utterly evil how the press tried to manipulate her, including a now disgraced BBC man. RIP.

I've set a lot of tile but OMG that floor mosaic!

As a person who's put in a lot of time in the ranks, I have to say - that formation was FUCKING tidy. My old Regimental Sargeant Major would've wanked himself dry if he'd lived to see that.

The Cosmati Pavement? Utterly magnificent, laid in the 13th century, in 1268, by order of King Henry III. High res overhead pic attached below.

Full details: https://www.westminster-abbey.org/about-the-abbey/history/cosmati-pavement


Regardless of any of the arguments for or against monarchy, that kind of military pomp and pagentry is something this country does absolutely superbly well. And Saturday's coronation parade was just sublime in how it was executed, including the manouvres for the 12-wide bodies that marched up to the Mall to reduce to 6-wide to go through the palace garden gates, while going round the Victoria memorial roundabout, and without breaking step - the Royal Navy in particular did that so smoothly the BBC comentators were impresed.

And then the three cheers from the massed troops in the gardens - not often you hear a resounding echo in an open space. Absolutely magnificent spectacle from start to finish.

I don't care what they say about her she is never going to be queen of the mud

I wish he hadn't crowned his concubine. I might have more respect for him if he had avoided that.

He should have been allowed to marry her in the first place - idiotic medieval "heir can't marry a Catholic" and "heir can't marry a divorcee" bigotry should have been binned long before it was.

Though if he'd not wed Diana we wouldn't have had William and Harry, who both appear to be fine people. As with most things in life, it's complicated, and there aren't any neat answers to past mistakes.

Plus it's traditional for the wife of a king to be queen, and monarchy largely runs on tradition.