Coronation time: A bit of Harry Potter and Monty Python, more than a little national self-reckoning

LONDON — It’s a coronation conundrum: How much is too much, and how much is not enough?

King Charles III’s formal anointing as sovereign of the realm, set to unfold Saturday before a VIP-studded audience in London’s Westminster Abbey, is intended as a global showcase for what might be Britain’s best-known brand: royal pageantry, played to the hilt.

To the actual hilt, in fact: Ceremonial swords will feature in the day’s elaborate observances across a monument-strewn swath of the British capital, together with ornate vestments, priceless jewels, heraldic trumpets and troops in scarlet tunics and bearskin hats. There’s even a Stone of Destiny, schlepped down from Scotland for the occasion.

But under straitened