King Charles III, Camilla his Queen Consort and the monarchy

Another funny food picture

Some of the best food pictures have already been posted in the Cornwalls thread, but there are still a few more to come from the good old days before the accession.

This one was taken in Ireland in 2019:

How long until the end of the monarchy?

Avacyn has called Meghan a wrecking ball; he said a while back that he suspects she was sent to destroy the Royals.

Whether it was deliberate or not and whether the Sussexes' allegations are true or not, it does seem this way. She is doing a great job on behalf of Republic UK.

Overtaken by events and swamped with allegations

Prince Harry's memoirs are to be published tomorrow. The leaked extracts and his recent interviews are being discussed everywhere.

Material that makes the royals look bad usually goes in the Behind the Royal Façade thread, but as the monarchy itself is under threat this is now the best place for incriminating revelations.

Where is Archbishop Justin Welby in all this by the way? The royals are at war and he is silent. Surely he should intervene: if this goes on there may be no coronation for him to officiate at!

Will there even be a coronation now?

Prince Harry is reported to have been dropped from the official ceremonies because of what he has said in his memoir Spare.

Republic UK are taking pledges for protests on the day, both in London and elsewhere. Prince Harry's book will probably win them many more supporters.

A lot could happen between now and May 6th. There could be many more damaging revelations.

Maybe Archbishop Welby is getting worried about something that will never happen.

The relevance of Going Postal

Terry Pratchett's fantasy novel Going Postal was first published in 2004.

This is a very relevant quotation from the book:

“Always remember that the crowd which applauds your coronation is the same crowd that will applaud your beheading. People like a show.”

People do indeed like a show. The royals are becoming increasingly similar to celebrities and stars of reality TV programmes. Now that the Queen has gone, their behaviour may get even worse.

Ironically, Prince Harry appears to have gone postal where other royals are concerned. Will he have destroyed them all before the coronation is due?

Sir Terry Pratchett's 'republicons'

This quotation from Mort, which was first published in 1987, seems relevant now:

“The only thing known to go faster than ordinary light is monarchy, according to the philosopher Ly Tin Wheedle. He reasoned like this: you can't have more than one king, and tradition demands that there is no gap between kings, so when a king dies the succession must therefore pass to the heir instantaneously. Presumably, he said, there must be some elementary particles — kingons, or possibly queons — that do this job, but of course succession sometimes fails if, in mid-flight, they strike an anti-particle, or republicon.”

This picture of Terry Pratchett is ironic considering his previous reference to bending at the knees:

Quick coronations

There are reports that King Charles's coronation ceremony will be shortened from three hours to one. In other words, it will be the Essential rather than the De Luxe version.

Even so, there have been shorter ceremonies. Terry Pratchett's Nation contains this comment about an amusing coronation scene:

“It was, according to the history books, the fastest coronation since Bubric the Saxon crowned himself with a very pointy crown on a hill during a thunderstorm, and reigned for one and a half seconds.”

Maybe it's all for the best. We know what to expect, and much respect for the monarchy has gone. We have had the Jubilee and the funeral.

This what we are going to get:

More anti-monarchy sentiments from Terry Pratchett

This is from a 2017 post:

“The mystery and the magic of the monarchy have gone; we no longer believe that the land and the king are one. Is it time to call it a day? After reading about what they have been getting away with for so long - and to add insult to injury at our expense - I would say it is... Do they deserve to be respected? Are they no better than the rest of us, or even worse in some cases?”

Bringing together extracts from various Terry Pratchett books highlights how much he agrees.

This is from Feet of Clay:

“No more kings. Vimes had difficulty in articulating why this should be so, why the concept resonated in his very bones. After all, a good many of the patricians had been as bad as any king. But they were...sort of...bad on equal terms. What set Vimes's teeth on edge was the idea that kings were a different kind of human being. A higher lifeform. Somehow magical.”

Terry and an extract from Guards! Guards!

Return of The Windsors

A fourth series of the comedy TV series The Windsors will be filmed later this year.

A special episode to mark the coronation will be shown at the time of the big event.

I wonder how much Prince Harry's memoir Spare will influence the scriptwriters. Will the Sussexes still be portrayed in the programme?

Coronation memorabilia

The items that I have seen so far look rather dull. I haven't seen anything that I would want to buy yet.

How many people are going to buy this bunting?

Coronation biscuits

These expensive coronation-themed biscuits look too good to eat:

Anti-monarchy badges

Alternative merchandise is available for people who want to abolish the monarchy.

Enamel badges are one of the items on sale now:

Next Tuesday in Colchester

King Charles will be visiting Colchester next week.

Republic UK supporters are planning a noisy demonstration. I wonder how many there will be of them.

The suspicious-looking spectator at Colchester

Someone in the crowd close to Camilla during yesterday's royal visit reminds me of someone in a pro-EU march some years back.

Black hat, and dark glasses on a cold winter's day in one case; dark glasses, and a black hat on a warm day in the other.

Is this a disguise? This is standard issue for spies!