Saturday May 6, 2023 | VICTORIA, BC [Updated May 8, 2023]
Insights by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
Not everyone will have stayed awake over Friday night to watch the start of TV news coverage of the King Charles III Coronation early in the morning today Saturday May 6.
For viewers in the Pacific Time Zone, CTV began coverage at 12:00 am, CBC at 1 am, and Global at 2 pm. CNN out of the USA and London also carried extensive coverage.
It was a modernized affair set on top of centuries-old tradition. With Charles being 74 years old and Camilla 75, the weight of the formal crowns would have been a consideration during the ceremony on top of the weight of now taking on a more-than-full-time job in their senior years.
Charles has been preparing for this all of his life, using his years up to now to further world interest in protective goals for the environment, global climate, affordable housing and farming sustainably.
William as Prince of Wales pledged his allegiance to the new king. William was accompanied by his wife Kate, Princess of Wales, and their three children George (who is next in line to be king, after his father), Charlotte and Louis.
It’s a family indelibly entwined with their public role and image; due to their respective indiscretions Prince Andrew and Prince Harry were part of the royal procession but in the seating area were three rows back. They were also not on the Buckingham Palace balcony afterward… something that in Charles’ slimmed-down modern monarchy includes primarily working royals.
The day’s weather was rainy nearly throughout, apparently the same as when his mother Queen Elizabeth II had her coronation..
Most TV networks will be retelevising the event tapes today. And social media is filled with photogenic images of the Royal Family, military and the procession and ceremony — something that furthers the royal brand.
A new era:
The ceremonial event today was steeped in very old traditions. Against the backdrop of a very old and religious ceremony, little touches of modernity included a guest list that reached beyond the British aristocracy, an all-black choir singing Hallelujah, and having a range of clerics from many faiths there at the ceremony.
Earlier this week King Charles III met in London with Canadian Indigenous leaders, which Canada’s Governor General Mary Simon considered a positive step forward to Crown-Indigenous relations.
Charles also managed after all these years to end up with the woman he loves at his side. That could be seen through a modernization lens.
But the biggest opportunity for new-era advancement under King Charles III might be for his powerful platform to endorse or even underwrite projects that could improve the global scenarios around climate change and food sustainability.
In the shadows of this new era is the memory of the late Diana, Princes of Wales. Her loving way of raising her sons was perhaps one of the greatest open doors to modernizing the monarchy for the 21st century and beyond.
Constitutional monarchy in Canada:
This weekend the Canadian government announced that the image of King Charles III will be on the Canadian $20 bill. Some public reaction has been against that.
This is room for a better public relations exercise by the government (or more instruction about it in the public education system), as it’s exasperating to see an overall lack of understanding among many Canadians have about the role of constitutional monarchy.
While not ignoring the dark chapters that surround over 1,000 years of a constitutional monarchy, in terms of governance there is stability for members of the Commonwealth.
Meanwhile, it’s problematic for a constitutional monarchy to be embedded in (deeply wedded to) any human family upon which there’s a great burden of service.
Comments in BC:
BC Premier David Eby issued a statement this morning upon the Coronation of King Charles III, King of Canada and Head of the Commonwealth, and Queen Camilla, saying that the Great Seal used in proclamations has been updated with the words ‘Charles III, King of Canada’ which encircle the Province’s coat of arms and that the BC Parliament Buildings will be lit up in royal emerald green tonight from dusk to 1 am Sunday morning.
Premier Eby hopes British Columbians will reflect on the role each can play in the “noble quest” of creating a stronger, more peaceful and more inclusive world. Read full statement by BC Premier Eby here:
Lieutenant Governor Janet Austin also issued a statement this morning. Among other things, she said: “On this occasion, may we recognize the enduring legacy of our constitutional monarchy that provides a steadying rudder, linking us outward to the Commonwealth and connecting us to a tradition of stability, parliamentary democracy and equality before the law.” Austin raised a Coronation banner at Government House yesterday in Victoria and hosted a luncheon for members of her patronages.
===== RELATED:
First Canadian stamp to bear King Charles III’s likeness (May 9, 2023)
Raising the Coronation banner at BC Government House (May 5, 2023)
===== ABOUT ISLAND SOCIAL TRENDS:
Island Social Trends has been reporting on news of the south Vancouver Island region and BC since 2008 (formerly as MapleLine Magazine, then Sooke Voice News, then West Shore Voice News). IslandSocialTrends.ca was launched mid-2020. News archive from 2018 to present online at islandsocialtrends.ca. Editor & Publisher: Mary P Brooke.