As I have many times since such things were available, I am up in the dark of the morning today, to immerse myself in my own cultural heritage. My DNA matches more than half British, Scottish and Welsh (74%). The church in which I grew up featured the King James version of the Bible, so the language of Shakespeare came naturally when I got to the level of school where that was studied.
When I was a newlywed in 1981, my husband and I got up at 4 a.m. to watch live coverage of the wedding of Charles and Diana. I have since that time arisen early to listen on public broadcasting to the Queen address her people around the globe at Christmas, or during the pandemic. I got up to view live coverage of more weddings as the generations of Windsors grew up and took spouses. Funerals, too: Diana, tragically out of life's natural order. Phillip, Prince consort, after long years of service to his Queen. Most recently that of Queen Elizabeth II, herself.
This morning, it is the coronation of Charles III. I was an infant when his mother was crowned, and that was long before the instant communications were available. So much ritual and symbolism and history. Nobody does this sort of thing like the Brits... the ceremonial processions, timed to the minute, the blend of modern technology with ancient tradition. 
The Golden State Coach, with newly crowned king and queen ready to depart the Abbey.
During the service, I was silently praying for this man, Charles, with that 8 pound crown on his head. He's older than I am by a couple or three years, and I could think of all the ways things might go wrong if it were me trying to pull this off. With a trip, or a body part buckling (knees, anybody) as all the wardrobe changes and up and down motions in the ceremony unfolded, the whole ceremony might be ruined! Walking down that loooong aisle carrying orb and scepter? Well done, Your Majesty!
The touching moment of the Prince of Wales swearing fealty, the curtseys and bows... boy the aristocracy knows how that's done, and some of those not in the aristocracy, too. Like I said, immersed in my own cultural heritage. Not that anybody else's is less than, but when you grow up in a culture, it feels like home.
For my Canadian friends... representation in the procession. The TV commentator said these horses the RCMP are riding were gifted (over time) to the Royal Family, and the corps was called upon to ride them today.
I have switched from the "no commentary" stream to let the media folks talk as the parade has concluded and we're waiting for the balcony visit.
Life is good. Yawn. I might take a nap today.
Spark on!
It's quite an event. (Is that the correct word?) I watched when it was televised live and now watch the reruns of the highlights. IMHO, the later videos/pictures of the kids was the best part of it all. 😊
ReplyDeleteKids *do* tend to "steal the show", don't they? I thought they were adorable! And I would also call it an event. I mean, that word covers multitudes, doesn't it?
DeleteI watched, too, getting up to turn on the telly at 5:30, prompted by my British son in law the day before. Where was he at 6am? In bed according to DD2! Too much of an American custom, Cinco de Mayo.
ReplyDeleteThe pageantry was beautiful and I hope all got what they wanted out of it.
I'm the 42% Scott in my family with about 30% in the rest of the British Isle. After that I'm a Heinz 57 of western European peoples.
We commoners can imitate the cat, eh?
BTW DH finally hit the lottery and tested so positive this morning that his test came up before the control even got damp! Masks all around and I'm staying on my sun porch and in a separate bedroom. So far he's tolerating being ill.
52% Brit, 19% Scot, 3% Welsh... the rest a hodge-podge. In short, as most humans by this day and age, the human equivalent of "mutt"? And when it comes to the game of "matching DNA", I share over 50% with each of my four siblings... slightly different bits, but still CLEARLY related!
DeleteAnd yes, we commoners can imitate the cats and watch with interest.
So sorry about DH and "the lottery". Hope he mends quickly and fully.
This morning it's my turn. I'm no longer a holdout in the covid clan. So far, so not so bad!
DeleteOh, no! Usually your part of the country leads ours in terms of "waves", so guess who's going to be extra careful for a while. Selfish, yeah. Hang in there, and hope you have a "light" case that's soon gone!
DeleteI remember watching the wedding of Charles and Diana live, too. I did watch a bit of the coronation on TV this morning since I was up anyhow. And always nice to see a bit of history in the making. LOL! Rubia does appear to be paying attention to the ceremony on the TV!
ReplyDeleteYes, I was wondering about the weight of that crown. Glad they both made it through with no mishaps.
Here’s to a good weekend.
Hugs
Barb
1crazydog
I am unsure where I picked up that "8 pounds" trivia; I think it might have been in season one of "The Crown" when Elizabeth had to practice wearing it and she and her father commented on how heavy it was.
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful weekend... we're getting some moisture here, and very grateful for it!
I to have watched all the different things from the Royal family. I recorded today's ceremony because we had the play to go to and didn't want to wake up that early and be sleepy for the play. I'll watch it tomorrow. They do know how to put on a ceremony.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy the weekend!
I hope you enjoy it. It really was beautiful.
DeleteThe glimpses I caught are so what I see every day as to feel fictional to me, although I share the heritage. 8 pounds?!? Like carrying a gallon of milk or water on one’s head. Challenging! -Alicia363
ReplyDeleteYep. 8 pounds. And they are in their 70's! They made it!
DeleteThe missing words are anomalous to.
ReplyDeleteAnalogous?
DeleteThe glimpse I caught are so anomalous-varying widely from-to what I see everyday that it felt fictional. Are we on the history channel? Is someone trying to catch the golden snitch? Seriously cognitively dissonant for me. -Ace
DeleteOh, OK. Charles and I had in common an interest in and identification with "the upper crust" even though we knew we were not a part of it. One of the first "chapter books" I read as a child was a biography of "The Young Elizabeth", meaning the first, not the second. And yes, the history represented in a golden state coach (Cinderella) is quite out of our day to day lives!
DeleteSurprisingly (to both of us) BF is over 50% British! Yet, when I asked if we would get up to watch the coronation, his reply: Who’s getting crowned? 😆 No fault of his, when the grandparents and parents have secrets they take to their graves (he thought he was Irish).🤷🏻♀️
ReplyDelete-RunKeeper Dee
Interestingly, this brings up thoughts of the old "nature/nurture" arguments, or "if a tree falls in the forest and nobody is there"... kinds of thoughts. Parents and grandparents have a great influence on our sense of who we are, and if they don't share, we don't know where they came from, either.
DeleteDNA is not all there is to one's identity.