When it comes to royal pomp and ceremony, few countries do it like the UK. Not many royal families command the attention of the international media in the way that the Windsors do, and the coronation of King Charles III tomorrow promises to be an event that will be watched across the world.
This is because the intricate ceremony at London’s Westminster Abbey – although largely symbolic for a country with a long history of parliamentary government – is a moment of considerable magnitude that combines continuity and change.
The British people – along with millions of others – will witness the beginning of a new era. The UK has gone through profound social, political and economic change during the king's extraordinary, decades-long apprenticeship as heir to the throne. When his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, became Britain’s monarch in 1952, and crowned 70 years ago, the country still possessed a vast empire, had to navigate a world defined by the Cold War and was significantly less diverse than it is today.
Now Britain, a much-reduced military force shorn of an empire over which it was said the sun never set, is navigating the uncharted waters of life outside the EU. This has created tensions at home and abroad, raising the prospect of another Scottish independence vote and necessitating the hard work of building new international trade ties and political relationships.
Climate change is another challenge. The country’s new monarch has been a strong advocate for environmentalism and conservation for years. King Charles’s long-standing interest in the natural world seems prescient now, given the many threats posed by our impact on it.
Although it is a moment of new beginnings, the king is no stranger to the Middle East, and the UAE in particular. From his first visit as prince in 1989, he has forged strong personal relationships with the country’s leaders. His personal ties to the UAE also go hand in hand with the UK’s historical legacy and ties in the Gulf. The UAE is also home to tens of thousands of British residents. This is a deep relationship and a firm friendship that is sure to continue into the future.
Other relationships seem less secure. King Charles is the head of state in many of the countries that are members of the 56-nation Commonwealth. Although support for republicanism in the UK itself remains a fringe view, some Commonwealth nations – as Barbados did in 2021 – have removed the British monarch as their head of state. In Australia, support for a republic is significant, with a survey in March claiming that 42 per cent of voters wanted their own head of state, as opposed to 35 per cent who wished to retain the country’s link to the British monarchy.
At home, however, Britain’s monarchy seems assured of its place, even despite the negative press that has surrounded some of its members in recent years. This may provide a source of stability for a country that has changed so much, and King Charles’s genuine interest in religious coexistence could help set a tolerant tone for the UK’s continuing national conversation.
Britain is writing a new page in its national story. Once the spectacle of Saturday’s ceremony is over, the country will go back to wrestling with the many challenges that come with an anxious, divided world. But continuity counts for something, and many will wish the British monarch well as he takes on the heavy responsibility of being a figurehead for a country that is rooted in tradition but which is also looking to the future.
