Mayday is a much loved British tradition. It’s a spring holiday and the time for another lovely tradition, picking wild garlic leaves in woodland when the bluebells are in bloom. Half an hour with a pair of scissors or a sharp knife and you can gather enough garlic to freeze or bottle and use in cooking for a year. But British people have another tradition on their minds this month. It’s a tradition so unusual that few citizens can remember the last time it happened.
King Charles III will be the first British monarch to be crowned in the past seven decades. There is coronation bunting in some areas and posters in shop windows ahead of the ceremony this weekend. The expectation is of a carefully choreographed made-for-television festival. The coronation will involve a revival of historic traditions including the use of the Stone of Scone (sometimes called the Stone of Destiny). It’s a slab of ancient sandstone brought to London from Scotland and used for centuries in the coronation of Scottish kings. It will now be used for Charles in a ceremony in which the Archbishop of Canterbury will anoint the King with oil and will also – we are told – invite the congregation and the global television audience to “pay true allegiance to Your Majesty and to your heirs and successors according to the law, so help me God.”
Opinion polls, however, suggest excitement in the coronation is limited, especially among young people. In a YouGov survey of 3070 adults, only 6 per cent of the young adult age group of 18 to 24 year olds said they were "very interested". Some 24 per cent said they were "quite interested.” But 35 per cent said they were "not very interested" and 29 per cent said they were "not at all interested".
There is criticism too of the cost, put at £100 million, at a time when inflation is high and the cost of living crisis hurts many British people. But what has been less discussed is why a coronation is necessary at all and what impact this version of an ancient ceremony will have on Britain’s image abroad. King Charles is, obviously, already King. He became King with the passing of his much respected mother Queen Elizabeth II. The continuity of the British monarchy has always been a top priority, but a coronation is not constitutionally necessary.
In the 1930s, Edward VIII didn’t even have a coronation. One clue as to why a coronation is thought to be important in the 21st century is that it will be a magnificent and highly rehearsed show, designed to connect with an international 21st century television audience and reinforce how the UK is seen around the world. But that itself may be a mixed blessing.
The British Council surveys opinion in many countries. One survey a few years ago found that "the UK is both loved and loathed for its traditions. The images most often associated with Great Britain in the survey are the Queen and the Royal Family, kilts, castles and rugby. This has implications for public diplomacy."
One of those implications is how far Britain is celebrated not for its present competence, future creativity and wealth creation, but for its past. The coronation will remind the world of the great British heritage. But it may also reinforce the idea that, as another British Council survey of US opinion a few years ago put it, Britain is seen as “a historic theme park rather than as a modern forward-thinking partner in innovation and creativity: American views of the UK are driven more by cultural factors than political issues… pointing to a crucial role for culture in future relations between the two countries.
The report reveals that culture and history were the two top rated factors contributing to the UK’s attractiveness among American respondents, with 43 per cent identifying "cultural and historic attractions" as a major draw and 42 per cent identifying "history". The current and past actions of governments were only the 16th most important factor (at 17 per cent) in determining how attractive they found the UK.
Brand Britain will be noticed around the world as a result of the coronation, but it will be less the “Cool Britannia” promoted in the 1990s than a glimpse of ancient and historic Britannia reworked in the 21st century.
The TV spectacular will be a visual demonstration that the monarchy and the House of Windsor are secure. Republicanism in Britain remains a minority interest. The splendid show may bring in tourists to have a look at Britain's castles and its culture. But the coronation may also reinforce the idea of Britain as merely a “historic theme park”. Men and women in strange clothing will do some strange things in the name of unfamiliar traditions. The downside is if the image of the UK seen around the world is less that of its glorious history and more the idea that modern Britain is not just celebrating the past but stuck in it.
