Cheers! Inspired by the King's Coronation 2023, souvenirs are all over London. Photo / Mike Kemp, Getty Images
Cheers! Inspired by the King's Coronation 2023, souvenirs are all over London. Photo / Mike Kemp, Getty Images
Opinion
EDITORIAL
After 27,200 days as the heir, Charles Philip Arthur George will today be officially crowned King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms.
Not everyone will be enamoured or take up the offer to affirm an oath of allegiance. A 1News Kantar poll after the deathof Queen Elizabeth II in September last year found more than a quarter (27 per cent) of Kiwis supported New Zealand becoming a republic.
However, public sentiment for the royals has been on the rise, with a full half of the poll respondents saying they would prefer to stay with the monarchy, up on previous polls and likely heightened in respect for Elizabeth’s dignified and dutiful reign.
Despite our two main party leaders stating they would prefer New Zealand moving towards being a republic, they have little choice but to represent the country in London this weekend, along with Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro and head of the Kīngitanga movement, Kīngi Tūheitia Pōtatau Te Wherowhero VII, and his wife Makau Ariki Atawhai.
Like the many tuning into the ceremony today, Chris Hipkins and Christopher Luxon will no doubt enjoy the spectacle of celebrating the 13th British monarch since the political union of the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland in 1707.
At the age of 73, Charles III is the oldest person to accede to the British throne, after having been the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales in British history.
The House of Windsor knows how to put on a “jolly good show”. It is a historic and long-anticipated moment to appreciate, whatever one’s viewpoint.
