The question of whether Prince Harry would be invited to King Charles III’s coronation on May 6 may have been settled, but the drama hasn’t ended there.
Will the Duke and Duchess of Sussex abide by the palace’s rules for their attendance? Can Prince Harry and Prince William stay civil? Will more private conversations end up in Prince Harry’s next book? And the list of “important” questions goes on.
Like most things in our modern culture, this high-profile tit-for-tat hides the true nature of this ancient ceremony. At the core, coronations of kings and queens in Western nations are worship services — leaders presenting themselves before God and answering His call for their lives and the lives of the people in their nation.
Sadly, most people are totally unaware of the deep and profound Christian roots found not only in English coronations but in all coronation ceremonies for Western monarchs. Once made aware of these Christian roots, the response is too often cynicism, reducing the Bible and Christianity to mere props used for legitimacy and the acquisition of power.
But to think of these ceremonies only in terms of authority, power, and legitimacy reveals the corruption of modern minds and misses the fundamental point entirely: How do these ceremonies legitimize rulers? They legitimize because they are true expressions of what society believes — or at least once believed.
Queen Elizabeth II’s Coronation
This can be seen throughout Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation in 1953, which was the first English coronation to
