Barely two months after his coronation with all the pomp and circumstance so characteristic of the British Monarchy in Westminster Abbey, before more than 2,000 guests, including dozens of heads of state and government from around the world, Charles III will be crowned with again today at noon, in this case in Scotland. In reality, the act is conceived as a national service of thanksgiving and dedication in St Giles’ Cathedral, Edinburgh. But at the ceremony the so-called British monarch will be presented scotland honorsincluding the royal crown, a jewel made in the 16th century for Jacobo V who continues to preside over each legislature over the opening of the Scottish Parliament.
This second coronation for King Carlos is, in short, one more rite of the many that he has been carrying out since he was proclaimed monarch of the United Kingdom in September, on the death of his mother, Elizabeth II. She, too, received the Scottish Honors in 1953, just three weeks after his historic investiture in London. And it is that, although there are no differentiated crowns or kingdoms in Great Britain since the Act of Union of 1707the Windsors have taken care to respect and pamper the strong Scottish identity, as well as to bond as much as possible with its symbols.
The British king, unlike the Spanish king, for example, is not a symbol of the nation or a guarantor of its continuity and permanence -as our Constitution attributes in this case to Philip VI-. He is the holder of a composite Monarchy and head of State of a United Kingdom made up of four nations: England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland. A fundamental question to understand why in this last territory an independence referendum could be held in 2014 in accordance with British legality and why Elizabeth II remained scrupulously neutral and outside the process, even though she “purred” with satisfaction at the know the result – the supporters of staying united with London were the majority -, just as an indiscreet David Cameronthen prime minister of the country.
And, in fact, Carlos III is well aware that the great challenge of his mandate will be to maintain the current seams of an increasingly disunited UKwith strong nationalist drives in both Ulster and Scotland and with broad sections of the population in both territories seduced by the idea of divorcing England, a desire that has strongly polarized society, above all as another consequence of the greatest historical error in Europe in recent decades that has been the Brexit. The ability of the Monarchy to deploy its soft power capabilities and exercise that of the United Kingdom as glue seems decisive in the coming years; It is there where Carlos III plays it.
Although this coronation will be much more modest and austere than the one held at the beginning of May in the capital of the Thames, there will be no lack of pomp. The event will begin shortly after 1:00 p.m. (local time), with a procession that will travel the stretch of the Royal Mile between Edinburgh Castle and the Cathedral. The participants, representatives of different areas of local society, will be escorted by the Royal Regiment of Scotland and a military band of cadets. And, around two o’clock, the so-called royal procession will begin, with Carlos III and Queen Camila as protagonists, who will go to the temple from the holyrood palace, official residence of the British royal family on Scottish soil. The monarchs will be well supported by an honor guard made up of contingents from the Navy, Army and Royal Air Force, along with members of the Mounted Regiment of Household Cavalry and the Pipes, Drums and Bugles of the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland.