Shall we talk about...
Harry and Meghan and the coronation of Charles
On Saturday, May 6, Charles will officially be crowned king of the United Kingdom. He is already king, and indeed officially, but those Brits won't let a ceremony be taken away from them. Moreover, they need a little celebration after all the Brexit misery, Harry and Meghan-gate, and the sadness following Elizabeth's passing. So, there will be a big event that weekend.
Thus, May 8 will be an official national holiday, there will be a concert and a laser light show at Windsor Castle. Street parties are also encouraged, and on Friday and Saturday, cafes may stay open for two hours longer. Although the coronation ritual dates back to 973 AD, Charles is trying to inject some contemporary hipness into it. Hence the laser light show, but he also asked former Apple designer Johnny Ive to design the logo for this coronation.
Furthermore, Charles is going a bit lighter on the festivities than Elizabeth did. Instead of 8000 guests, there will be ‘only’ 2000 this year. The composition of that guest list is determined by the government, although Charles will certainly have a say in it. It is also interesting that Camilla will go for the title ‘queen’. Initially, she was to be called ‘queen consort’, which indicates that she holds the title because she is the king's wife (and thus has no royal blood herself), but Camilla has gotten her way and will indeed be ‘Queen Camilla’. It's interesting how, in conservative England, a married mistress has managed to become queen.
Is there then no tiny, tiny cloud of sheep wool in the sky for our Charles? There is, two to be precise: Harry and Meghan. So far, it is not known whether they will be there. They have a pretty good excuse because their little Archie has a birthday on May 6. That would be a reason to skip it. And it's not like the red carpet will be rolled out for them. They will not be allowed to stand on the balcony with Charles and Camilla, as that balcony is reserved for people fulfilling duties from their royal role. And Harry and Meghan have clearly stated that they want to distance themselves from that.
Why would you want to stand on that balcony so badly? Well, because that photo, that famous balcony photo after the coronation, will go down in history and will be viewed for hundreds of years (oh, the pressure for the outfit) and since Meghan and Harry seem to have a bit of a need for visibility, it is expected that they would very much like to be part of this.
Sources close to the situation say that Meghan cannot believe that Charles would want to exclude his own son and daughter-in-law from that balcony scene, just because they are no longer working for the royal family. Others find it quite understandable that Charles is a bit disappointed after all the attacks from Harry and Meghan directed at him and consider it completely logical that the carpet is not exactly rolled out for these two.
Be that as it may, Meghan and Harry have not yet indicated whether they will be there or not. What is clear is that Meghan is not allowed to wear a crown jewel (I mention a tiara from Diana) while Catherine certainly can, and that if they do come, they will be staying at Frogmore Cottage (you know, the house they had renovated for a modest 2.4 million of taxpayer money before they moved in, but which they did pay back nicely when they moved to California). That will then be their last time, as afterwards the bed will be prepared for... Prince Andrew.
To be continued.
