MYSTIC CORONATION
While several European countries retain their royal families, when a new king or queen accedes to the throne, it is accompanied by a relatively simple ceremony. Britain is almost unique in staging a full ritual coronation, with the only other nation doing so in the modern world being Tonga in the South Pacific. For the coronation of King Charles III, there was a greater emphasis on the mystic and ritual aspects of the occasion than when Queen Elizabeth II was crowned 70 years ago. Particularly that speculatively connected foliate heads to separate folkloric green men in things like pub names. Nonetheless, it was notable that Charles III was reaching back to deeply resonant mediæval imagery for his coronation. His invitation also contained symbolic groupings of wildflowers, animals and heraldic creatures, emphasising the mythic and mystic aspects of the coronation in a way not seen at his mother’s.
