It was much too early for me to watch, not that I had any interest in the coronation of King Charles III. It comes after the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, who died on September 8 at the age of 96. The longevity of the queen and her mother was a topic of discussion since it seemed plausible that the Prince of Wales could die before his mother. He’s now 74, not the youthful queen that his mother was upon the passing of George VI. On May 6, it was made official. The United Kingdom for the foreseeable future, will have a king at the helm of this institution (via CBS News):
With passing of Queen Elizabeth II, her first son, 73-year-old Charles, ascended the throne to officially become King Charles III. The new king had been the Prince of Wales — the title reserved for future British kings-in-waiting — for longer than anyone else in the history of the United Kingdom's monarchy.
"There is no way of getting around it, he is not in the first flush of youth," said CBS News royal contributor Julian Payne, who served as press secretary to then-Prince Charles. "What we will see instead of that is more than 50 years of experience on the world stage."
Payne said Charles would likely take the same approach to his role as king as his mother took to being queen.
"He, like his mother, takes the view that this is about duty and service," Payne said. "You do your duty. You provide the service to the nation when you're asked to do it. You don't seek it out, you don't try and get hold of it, but when it comes to you, you take on that role, and you try and do it to the best of your ability."
Yet, the new king seemed irritated during his ceremony in the carriage ride, which was picked up by two lip readers, according to the New York Post. Apparently, being “on time” is a big no-no, among other things (via NY Post):
In scenes beamed live to viewers around the world, Charles was seen sitting in his coach alongside Camilla, waiting for the all-clear to enter Westminster Abbey to begin the coronation ceremony.
William and Kate, the Prince and Princess of Wales — accompanied by their children Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis — arrived late to the ceremony and were forced to join the procession behind King Charles rather than entering Westminster Abbey before him, along with the rest of the royals and hundreds of guests.
As he and Camilla sat awkwardly in their carriage for several minutes, waiting for the OK to enter the Abbey, it appears Charles vented his frustrations — at least, according to two lip readers who independently viewed the footage.
“I’m worried about time, I mean it’s been longer this time and, well, erm, I mean look! I know,” a lip reader told the Daily Mail Charles said in one clip, which has been viewed several million times on social media.
“We can never be on time. Yes, I’m … this is a negative. There’s always something,” another lip reader told the Daily Mail they believed Charles said in the same footage.
[…]
Charles’ brief ill-tempered moments have made headlines since his mother’s death last year — most notably, two separate incidents caught on camera, one in which he signaled at an aide through gritted teeth to clear his desk, and another in which he fumed over a faulty pen while signing important documents.
It’s a fascination here that I don’t quite understand, but plenty of Americans probably tuned in for this event, like the royal weddings before it.
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