Good morning and welcome to this, our special Coronation assembly. And this really is a special assembly. First and foremost, no one in this room has experienced a coronation in this country in their lifetime. Queen Elizabeth II was coronated in 1953, seventy years ago, and believe it or not none of us here is seventy years old. It may well be that this is a once-in-a-lifetime moment for me, too, to lead such an assembly as a Head. Assuming I’m a Head teacher until I retire, that leaves another 26 years, which means our King Charles III would be 99 when I finally give up – Not impossible that he’ll still be serving as our Monarch at that point, when one considers the longevity in his ancestral line; and so, all things considered, I feel the pressure to say something of great import and authority on the eve of such a weighty occasion.
But it’s a tricky topic the coronation, precisely because it’s such a vast and historic notion. And that’s before you’ve taken into account any of the economic, political or personal views which swirl around such events, as the coverage this weekend of whether or not we should be swearing allegiance to our new king attests. Whether you like it or not, the Royals are of fascination to us, dramatised for centuries from Shakespeare all the way to Netflix’s The Crown, satirised for generations whether that be Spitting Image or The Windsors, and always guaranteed to sell newspapers with apparently scandalous revelations, whether that be about Edward VIII’s abdication, the tragic demise of Princess Diana or, currently, the seemingly inexhaustible subject that is Meghan Markle. The Royals: they’re everywhere.
So where to begin? Well, you could start with looking at Charles’ nominative predecessors, namely Charles I and Charles II. Although, he may rather you didn’t… the Historians amongst you will know that Charles I had a bit of a difficult time shall we say, ending as a result of the Civil War with his being tried, convicted and executed for high treason in January 1649. The monarchy was then abolished and the Commonwealth of England established as a republic. Not what one might call an unmitigated success. The monarchy was then restored to his son Charles II in 1660, though not until he’d been given a good thumping by Cromwell and had to flee into exile. Famously hedonistic and known as the Merry Monarch, Charles II was very popular but perhaps had more in common with an adolescent Prince Harry than with his namesake Charles III in terms of temperament.
Having exhausted the historical angle, I unsurprisingly turned to a more literary perspective, and you may remember that at our memorial service for Queen Elizabeth II we looked at the quotation from Henry IV, Part 2: ‘Heavy lies the head that wears the crown’. Shakespeare understood and explored with such humanity the idea that kingship in all of its pomp and ceremony is first and foremost a responsibility, and a duty which can weigh heavily at times; and I do think about King Charles III, at 73 the oldest person to accede to the throne, having served the longest ever tenure as heir apparent and Prince of Wales in British History, taking up this responsibility at a time in his life when the rest of us are looking at winding down, drinking gin in the garden and revelling in having far less responsibility than at any other point in life. It must be tiring, and strange, as well as exultant and exciting.
And if I feel the weight of history in the writing of one brief assembly in a small corner of SW19, I can’t imagine the weight of it upon the shoulders of Charles III. There is just so much incredible history and tradition associated with what’s happening tomorrow. One of my favourite details is the fact that there is something called the Stone of Destiny – what a cool name – which legend has it has been used in coronations of kings Irish, Scottish and English, for centuries and which now resides in Edinburgh Castle – it’s so famous it’s been kidnapped before, back in the 50s – very rock and roll – and now it’s been transported back to Westminster under special guard to take its role in the coronation, and had its own special welcome ceremony in Westminster Abbey to make it feel at home, just like the rock star it truly is…
But what’s not to love about the Stone of Destiny? It’s so, well, mad and wonderful. And this is the thing: we live in a land built on mad myth and wonderful legend, a land which rests on misty, ancient Celtic and Viking and Norse and Anglo-Saxon customs which have all been mixed up together and which don’t make much sense if you analyse them too closely, but which I believe adds to our sense of who we are – a nation of story-tellers and believers in magic and custom and traditions brought in from all sorts of different peoples and lands – and so perhaps the Coronation, however we feel about it as an event, can represent that beautiful inter-woven tapestry of our country, which grows ever more diverse in the stories it contributes, and ever more magical as a result. It’s easy – so very very easy – to approach events like the one tomorrow, indeed any form of tradition or ceremony, with cynicism, to tut about money spent and outmoded notions of nationalism. But I’m going to try not to do that and I hope you’ll try with me. I’m going to try to appreciate and really understand the importance of occasion, of coming together, and of laying down markers in our lives.
To me, this is what we can be celebrating, whatever our views on monarchy; let’s take the opportunity of the Coronation to pay attention to the stories of our past, look with optimism to those of our future, a future of many and different people coming together to celebrate our already interwoven narratives, and create more shared traditions and moments.