The Coronation Of Charles III, the ‘Green’ King by Alfred N.Muggins Part 1

6/5/23 Westminster Abbey

Part 1

    Thanks to family phone calls (unwanted by Alfred at this magical time of Coronation, but there was absolutely no way he could have forbidden Mrs Muggins from keeping her family ‘hotline’ open, even at such a moment of national importance!), in which the TV was put on ‘Pause’, while Mrs Muggins watched the Coronation 5 minutes behind everyone else in the United Nations and the rest of the Commonwealth, the King was already crowned before they saw it, and the Mugginses were already out of step with real time, and as some might say, and with reality altogether! Due to the magnificent choral music being sung throughout the service of Coronation, they had been unwilling to fastforward back to actual time. Alfred had been particularly impressed with the Welsh singer, Bryn Terfel who sang so beautifully!

     All nations and religions of the Commonwealth, and even all four languages of the British Isles were represented (in one piece of music!). The feeling was that all nations and groups were being represented under one benign King, who recognized them all! (To Alfred it reminded him of the Coronation of Prince Caspian, after the liberation of Narnia from the usurper, as all the now to be equal citizens of Narnia, whether human Telmarines or talking beasts and the (semi mythical) creatures of that wonderful land all sang together with one voice (or many voices as one!), a vision of his youth which had never left him! (Although King Charles III was rather significantly older, and therefore probably a lot wiser, than young King Caspian!))

    The piece of music which most affected him at the time was the powerful and most beautiful ‘Zadok the Priest’ by Handel from George II’s Coronation in 1727. It impressed him so much that he played it on Alexa even while he paused the TV to make a belated cup of tea in the later part of the service, and then later on You Tube on his old phone, while having a shower and shaving, before finally dressing and going out to visit other family friends for sandwiches and his mother later. When he heard its perfect and powerful tones he could feel that he was there with all of the bigwigs in the famous Abbey in front of all the world’s cameras. (If only Handel himself could see and hear the effect of his music nearly 3 centuries later!)