John Roughan: Royalty will work its magic in King Charles’ coronation

A night time rehearsal in central London for the coronation of King Charles III. Photo /Getty Images

A coronation will be something to see. You’d need to be nearly 80 to have any memory of one. We’ve seen old film and photos of the last one but they can’t tell us what it was like to be alive at the time. So I’ll be settling in front of television tonight with delicious curiosity.

Possibly nothing memorable will happen. The familiar figure of Charles, already king in fact, will have a religious anointing amid medieval pageantry, assembled notables, solemn commentary and cheering crowds along London streets. But this interesting king promises more.

This is his first chance to put his own stamp on our lives. Tonight he steps out of the shadow of his mother and we see him begin to be the monarch he has waited a lifetime to be.

For much of that time he has heard the monarchy might not survive the late Queen. Just this week he might have seen the results of Lord Ashcroft’s polls of all 15 nations of the realm. Six would replace the monarchy immediately if given a vote on it. A majority of 2000 New Zealanders thought they would do so in a decade’s time.

Charles is an innovative thinker. He probably understands how odd it feels to have a head of state on the other side of the world. I hope he also understands the desire for a continuing relationship of some kind.

It wouldn’t surprise me if he takes the initiative, formalizing what realm countries already have in fact, a vice regal head of state, while he ensures his role as head of the Commonwealth becomes an enduring royal connection for its members.

But for the moment he wants a “modernized” coronation. My slight worry is that he will take that too far. He’s a boomer, a generation that discarded too much that was noble, stabilizing and romantic in traditional social conduct.

In typical boomer fashion, Charles will have himself proclaimed “defender of faith” tonight rather than “defender of the faith”. That’s the only specific thing we’ve been told will be different this time. It might reflect a personal agnosticism – shades of “whatever love is” in unhappier times.

Or it might reflect the view – held even more strongly by William’s generation – that a country’s dominant culture needs to be diminished for the sake of minorities. It is a view that may misjudge the wish of minorities. My blood is more Celtic than Anglo-Saxon, my heritage Irish Catholic not Church of England, but I don’t mind in the least that the monarch is head of the Anglican Church.

The monarchy is in fact twice as old as its church, a thousand years old. Precious few institutions in this world keep us in touch with so much history. Tonight we watch another of its rituals of continuation. Whatever ceremonial tweaks Charles has requested will probably be overwhelmed by the splendour of every Buckingham Palace production.

By this time tomorrow we will be remarking once more on how exceptionally well the British do these things and the usual news chatter about royalty - tensions real or rumoured in the family, the “relevance” of a monarchy today – will recede again for a moment.

But until the trumpets sound tonight we will continue to chatter, like a congregation waiting in anticipation. Will the self-serving spare come in with the impeccable heir? Could there be a glimmer of a thaw? Will their shameless uncle show his face? Undoubtedly.

It’s the flawed members of the family that make the royals relatable but it’s the King’s other siblings who deserve more attention. Princess Anne and Prince Edward are true royalty, going about the unglamorous daily duties of the firm, as Anne did in New Zealand recently.

Both had the good sense long ago not to put their children into superfluous royal roles, allowing them to lead more normal lives. Andrew of course did quite the opposite. Given such different role models, Harry chose to emulate Andrew, bestowing royal titles on his offspring recently. But enough of him.

The moment Charles and Camilla enter the abbey the chatter will cease. What a remarkable story they are. Charles has been a different man since his second marriage, a happy man. He knows what love is now. The tragedy was, he always knew.

He also knows the foundations of the monarchy are less secure than they look at times like tonight. Its fate is in his hands. Most of the time most people in the realm countries, Britain included, are indifferent to it. They keep it because there is no pressing need to replace it, and because every now and again it gives us a night like this.