A Date with Destiny

I got up very early Saturday morning to see the coronation of King Charles III. Turned out I could have stayed in bed longer as they said programing would start at 3 am so I thought the actual coronation procession would begin sometime after 4am; so I got up at 3:30am. the procession didn't happen until around 5:30 am; but anyway, I was up so I just got comfortable with a pillow and blanket on the couch.

It seemed kind of unreal. Queen Elizabeth had always been a piece of the fabric of my life. Growing up I had kept scrapbooks about the Royal family and had numerous books on them as well. The scrapbooks are gone but I still have a good many of the books.  Although we all must pass, it just seemed like Queen Elizabeth would always be there. Now here we were waiting to see her son crowned, I wonder what he thought about it all; knowing his whole life that to fulfill this destiny his mother had to die. 

It was a wonderful ceremony, full of pomp, pageantry and history. I think those of us who watched from home had a better view than many of the invited guests who probably only saw the King and the rest of the Royal family as the entered or left Westminster Abbey, even the Royal family only really saw the back of the Coronation chair from where they were seated. 

It was nice to see the role that Prince George played in his grandfather's coronation and that of Prince William, but I especially liked that Princess Anne had a role as a member of the King's guard on the procession back to Buckingham Palace and took part in the salute to the King on the grounds of Buckingham Palace. 

The balcony scene had more members of the family than I expected but those who were not there were not unexpected. I was glad that the Queen's cousins the Duke of Kent, the Duke of Gloucester and Princess Alexandra were there. They represented Queen Elizabeth's reign. And representing the reign of the new King were his brother Edward, now the Duke of Edinburgh, and his family, Princess Anne and her husband, and Prince William, his wife and their children. 

There were those that said it was a shame Harry wasn't there. I don't feel bad for him. I've watched the interviews he's done and read his book; he's made many claims but didn't really substantiate many of them.  And just like keeping his titles, he seems to want the prestige and privilege that goes along with being Royal but not workload or the intrusions on his life. 

I wish King Charles a long life. I hope that he's able to resolve those family issues with Harry. It would be sad to think that Harry's children will miss out on getting to know their close relatives. 

I hope Canada will keep the monarch as our Head of State or, at least, that we'll stay in the Commonwealth.