On Tuesday 11 April, the British media outlet The Daily Mail revealed a new difficulty faced by the organisers of the Coronation of Charles III. Anger is mounting among British government ministers after they learned that they will not be able to attend the ceremony with their spouses.
A new day, a new problem for Charles III and his Coronation. As details of the ceremony begin to emerge, including the route of the procession, controversy has recently erupted in the UK after ministers received their invitations to attend the event.
According to the Daily Mail on Monday 10 April, the statesmen are said to be “angry” after learning that they were not allowed to bring anyone to the ceremony, with the exception of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak whose wife also received an invitation. According to the organisers, the extremely limited space in which the procession will take place does not allow everyone to come accompanied in order to allow all the world’s guests to attend the ceremony.
For ministers, this is unacceptable: “Many cabinet ministers and their partners are unhappy about this,” a government source told the tabloid, explaining that many of them make sacrifices in their lives to enable ministers to carry out their work and that inviting them to the ceremony would have been seen as a reward for those sacrifices. The Royal Cabinet, for its part, said it heard and understood the frustration, but also explained that, given the scale of the event, nothing could unfortunately be done. Ministers have no choice but to prepare to attend the May 6 events alone.
Charles III: another point of contention about his Coronation
This is not the only issue causing tension at the Coronation. This Sunday, the Daily Mail also revealed that the king would experience some tension with the Church of England over the conduct of the ceremony. At issue is the monarch’s desire to have non-Christians attend the Coronation. This wish is in total contradiction with canon law and is opposed by the leaders of the Church. An alternative seems to have been found, however, with the holding of a parallel cultural ceremony where the other religious leaders could then speak.
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