King Charles III - The Coronation and Identity Politics

 

The Mail on Sunday has revealed that King Charles’s coronation is set to last little more than an hour. The service at Westminster Abbey will have fewer "arcane" rituals and be significantly shorter than the 1953 ceremony when Queen Elizabeth was crowned. King Charles is understood to want his Coronation to set the tone for a streamlined and "modern monarchy". It will be more religiously and culturally diverse, with the language adapted to be understandable to a more modern audience. It will be "a simpler, shorter and more diverse ceremony that reflects modern Britain," and "more religiously and culturally diverse." The day after the coronation, on Sunday, 7th May, a 'Coronation Concert' will be held at Windsor Castle. The concert will feature 'The Coronation Choir' – a diverse group created from the nation’s keenest community choirs and amateur singers from across the UK – including refugee choirs, NHS choirs, LGBTQ+ singing groups and deaf signing choirs. A documentary explaining the formation of the choir will tell the stories of the people representing the many faces and voices of the country.

For one commentator this marks the beginning of the end of the monarchy:

"It is not the make-up of the choir that makes the most striking statement about how Britain has changed from the country I knew. More significant is the fact that the monarch is taking account of identity politics at his coronation. Indeed, I would suggest that in making this move, he renders the monarchy redundant and makes a better case for republicanism than any contemporary British republican, whether of the left or the right. It is precisely in this quest for relevance that the monarch gives proof of his determination to be irrelevant ..." According to the author, the rhetoric of inclusivity is a "political confidence trick." “Inclusivity” is simply the rhetorically powerful word used to exclude people, the people of whom the “inclusive” do not approve. The model of society these progressive inclusivists propose is not really more all-embracing than that which it is replacing. "In fact, it looks likely to be far more exclusive, given that subscription to the contemporary credo of identity politics is fast becoming a condition of being considered a legitimate member of society—unprecedented outside of shamelessly totalitarian regimes. That’s why a man who served his country—the old, non-inclusive country, that is - was fined last year for merely praying in silence outside an abortion clinic. It is doubtful that any choir featuring his cause will make it onto the A-list of guest performers at the king’s coronation. "By legitimating inclusivity, defined by the categories of contemporary identity politics, the king demonstrates the redundancy of the institution he embodies. If he is going to bow to politics, then he will really be no more representative of the entire nation than Biden or Trump is representative of the United States. He risks, in fact, making himself a source not of unity but of further division, exclusion, and polarization. "The greatness of modern monarchy lies precisely in its immediate and intentional irrelevance, in its ability to point to a unity deeper than the ephemeral issues—and identities—of the day. Thus, as soon as there is enthusiastic talk of a coronation that will not be traditional, the game is over. If tradition is useless, something that needs to be overcome, then the reason for monarchy has long since gone. How ironic that the king himself seems determined to make the republican argument in a more powerful form than we have seen for many years. In such circumstances, the British people might as well become a republic and elect the same kind of shallow, careerist partisans for which America and France have had to settle."

It certainly hasn't impressed PinkNews who lament that same-sex relations remain illegal in many countries once colonised by Britain. They report, Charles’ accession has troubled 'Republic' – a campaign group that wants to abolish the monarchy – with its CEO, Graham Smith, telling PinkNews he believes the royals don’t care about LGBTQ+ people:

"The monarchy is steeped in very deeply conservative attitudes. The monarchy is the head of the Church of England and just a few months ago the Archbishop of Canterbury said gay sex is still a sin which is an appalling thing to say. That then emboldens people to support things like conversion therapy."