Coronation

Monday

Cockburn

Donald Trump to publish 1995 letter from King Charles

Donald Trump is set to publish a letter from then-Prince Charles, without the British monarch's permission. The letter from the now-King will form part of a book coming out Tuesday called Letters to Trump, which features celebrities and other people who have written to the former president during his life. The correspondence is said to range from President Richard Nixon to Alec Baldwin. Perhaps they bonded over lawsuits? Charles purportedly wrote to Trump in 1995 to thank him for offering an honorary membership to his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. A nice gesture, but King Charles isn’t a golfer. Maybe it’s something to do with those hands.

charles

Thursday

Alexander Larman

Charles III is fighting for the monarchy’s life

On September 10, 1946, British foreign secretary Ernest Bevin remarked, “kings are pretty cheap these days.” His comment was directed at the displaced monarchs who floated, dispossessed, around Europe, but it might also have been a dig at the ailing king George VI, who had found his métier in wartime but struggled to regain it afterwards. Less than six years after Bevin’s comment, the king died and Elizabeth II assumed the throne, leading to an unprecedented period of monarchical duration, stability and popularity. Yet after her own death last September, at the age of ninety-six, and the subsequent accession of her son, Bevin’s statement has assumed new and unlooked-for relevance.

Charles

Wednesday

Kara Kennedy

Meghan Markle ‘may not have been welcome’ at coronation

Prince Harry will attend the coronation of his father, King Charles III next month alone, according to Buckingham Palace. Meghan Markle will stay in California with Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet. After months of speculation, with the sources claiming that the Sussexes "weren't sure" if they would attend after the latest fall out from Harry's bombshell memoir, Spare, it has now be announced that the prince will attend, but his wife, Meghan stay in California with their children, Buckingham Palace says. Critics have bashed the pair for not deciding quicker, after they were formally invited over one month ago. A source close to the family, who will attend the coronation said: "Her presence may not have been entirely welcome. It's more likely she would have been booed.

meghan and harry

Tuesday

Gareth Roberts

We don’t need a ‘diverse’ coronation

From our UK edition

Refugees and the NHS, we are told, will be at the heart of King Charles’s ‘diverse’ coronation in May. You’d think that a thousand-year-old institution tasked with steering clear of controversy might seek to avoid such hot potatoes. But there is nothing unexpected about this royal foray into politics. LGBTQ+ groups will perform at ‘a star-studded concert at Windsor Castle’ as part of the celebrations marking His Majesty’s accession to the throne. A royal source told the Daily Telegraph the coronation ‘needed to be “majestic” but “inclusive” to reflect a diverse modern Britain’.  Unfortunately, this sounds like another example of the utterly banal EDI (equality, diversity, inclusion) events we’ve become used to in Britain.

Wednesday

Geoff Hill

The Zulu’s new king brings peace, for a moment

From our UK edition

A new king of the Zulu was crowned at the weekend. Thousands in South Africa went to Durban to watch the coronation of Misuzulu kaZwelithini. The city was sunny, which meant the Zulu ancestors were happy. The coronation, held at the Moses Mabhida stadium, was a celebration of Zulu tribal dominance. While South Africa’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, who handed over the certificate recognising Misuzulu as the Zulu monarch, was booed by the audience, his predecessor, Jacob Zuma, was cheered. Ramaphosa comes from the tiny Venda tribe, on the border with Zimbabwe. Zuma is a Zulu. Zulus don’t care much about the accusations against their former president.

Wednesday

Charles Moore

The case against a stripped-back coronation

From our UK edition

The last King Charles was crowned in 1661. Samuel Pepys attended the ceremony. He was captivated by ‘the sight of all these glorious things… sure never to see the like again in this world’. He later became so merry, he told his diary, that ‘my head began to turne and I to vomitt…Thus did the day end, with joy everywhere’. We live in a more decorous age, but I think Pepys imbibed the right spirit. The coming coronation of King Charles III should be joyful too. The paradox is that joy will not be achieved unless the ceremony is solemn and magnificent. Early signs give slight cause for concern. On Tuesday last week, the coronation was announced for 6 May, half the traditional time gap.