As the rain lashed Parliament Square this week, and Rishi Sunakâs bizarre police bicycle escort shouted its way through Whitehall, the capital resembled a drizzly, gothic Burning Man festival. Crowds of Extinction Rebellion protestors stood huddled from the weather in their lurid purples and oranges, like penitent cultists in a late Roman city. Gone were the strange processions of accusing scarlet priestesses that marked their early protests: they had retreated to their aesthetic safe space of a crusty Student Union bar sometime in the early Nineties, a distant fug of snakebite, rollies and road bypass protests that is presumably their foundation-myth, the lost Arcadia of the eco-protest world. And between these two worlds, sliding through the crowds in his chauffeured car, inscrutable behind polished glass, sat the living bridge between these two Englands: the King.
It still feels strange to say the King, impossible to utter it without savouring the phrase as if in quotation marks: no other British title quite embodies the same tension between the lost magic of the realm and the banalities of modern public life. Replacing the careworn grandmother embodying the post-war diminution of the British state, our new king, part Athonite mystic, part pampered dandy, remains a mystery.
Just like the juxtaposition of Extinction Rebellionâs pagan eco-mysticism with the box-ticking, bell-ringing passive-aggressiveness of Sunakâs cycle cavalry, the King represents two divergent paths for Britainâs future. To supporters like myself, inclined to hail him â partly seriously and partly ironically â as a post-liberal figurehead, a champion of small family farms and a lost way of life, the King may still signal a renaissance of sorts. To his detractors, he represents all that is wrong with the 21st-century establishment. Some view him as the herald of top-down bureaucratic eco-austerity for the masses while the elites preserve their wealth and contentment; others see his recent capitulation to the race grifters and betrayal of a loyal family servant as evidence of all that is most destabilising and harmful about modern British life. There are two kings within Charles waiting to be crowned, just as there are two rival Britains struggling to be born.
The Queenâs funeral, with its sombre pomp and reassertion of the power and majesty of the state, could be interpreted as a rejection of modern Britain as much as the great festive events of her later life proclaimed a celebration of who we are now. What rich stores of symbolic meaning, then, await us at the coronation?
The sheer strangeness of this event, its apartness from modern Britain, is the essence of its meaning. When our king is anointed as Godâs chosen in the great stone sepulchre of the British people, we will witness something strange and literally magical. So divorced from modernity as to be almost incomprehensible, we will witness, like puzzled anthropologists, the ancient rituals of our own lost British tribe. The choice of music, of court dress and of religious benedictions that will attend this descendant of both Vlad Dracul and Mohammed, in this most Catholic ceremony of a Protestant country, are rich fodder for grandstanding and debate. All politics, all power, is at heart symbolic, resting on ancient foundations like a modern church on ancient monoliths: only once or twice in our lifetimes will the state draw back its robes and reveal her hidden mysteries to us.
How is Charles to rule and bring this strange duality, the ancient and the modern, into public life? For decades, he was mocked as an eccentric, a weirdo who talked to his plants and praised the rustic hardships of traditional peasant life from within his palace walls. This urge to call him weird as an insult, springs from the same source as the eye-rolling ironic epithet ânormal countryâ levelled at Britain. Instead, it is a compliment. Britain is not a normal country, whatever that would be, and thank God.
Join the discussion
Join like minded readers that support our journalism by becoming a paid subscriber
To join the discussion in the comments, become a paid subscriber.
Join like minded readers that support our journalism, read unlimited articles and enjoy other subscriber-only benefits.
SubscribeA champion of small family farms does not support nitrogen emission caps that will force small mixed farms out of business.
An age where our neglect of nuclear power has driven ordinary families into financial difficulty won’t be ended by a leader opposed to the heavy industry industry and industrial systems necessary to build nuclear plants.
A tireless promoter of traditional craftsmanship is not going to foster scalable, cheap and affordable solutions.
A genuine love and affection for the humble by someone who wants a world where ordinary people no longer partake in travel is actually a love of hierarchy and privilege.
Nature-friendly farming systems are intensive and high yielding so minimising the land footprint of farming.
A genuine love and affection for the humble and vernacular is not expressed in an occasional holiday.
Sleeping in peasantsâ cottages for a jolly is a simple pleasure but one that isn’t shared with the hoi polloi if you insist on using your retained feudal powers to aggressively raise rents and evict people from your personal fiefdom the Isles of Scily.
A head of state so obviously detached from the reality of his subjects yet extremely comfortable with global elites insisting on a presence in British public affairs and running riot in SW1 because of his birthright will undermine democracy and inflame republican sympathies.
Roussinos’ idea of King Charles has no connection with the reality of Charles and betrays a deep ignorance of the constitutional settlement that permits a monarchy to survive in a free and democratic state.
Third time lucky perhaps?
The two previous incumbents with that name proved to be a âcomplete waste of rations â.
The first provoked an appalling Civil War, whilst the second, his son, was an outright traitor.
In what way was Charles II a traitor?
Charles filled us in on how we sold Dunkirk (Cromwell having just won it) back to the French. But there may be other things on the charge sheet. Let’s see !
Perhaps Charles S needs consider changing his name if he’s convinced there’s more than coincidence about Charles underperformance here …
Just what i was thinking.
Whilst Charles S is contemplating the errors of his namesakes, King Stephen was said to be overshadowed by Queen Matilda, whilst in royal lineage you have Peter the Great to boast about!
a sorry drunk if ever there was one.
a sorry drunk if ever there was one.
Fortunately I didnât have any Scotch blood!
That I think was the cause of the problem.
Just what i was thinking.
Whilst Charles S is contemplating the errors of his namesakes, King Stephen was said to be overshadowed by Queen Matilda, whilst in royal lineage you have Peter the Great to boast about!
Fortunately I didnât have any Scotch blood!
That I think was the cause of the problem.
âSecretâ Treaty of Dover.
Ah, that. He poped on his deathbed anyway
That didnât really matter it was his âselling outâ to Louis XIV.
Treason no other word for it.
That didnât really matter it was his âselling outâ to Louis XIV.
Treason no other word for it.
Ah, that. He poped on his deathbed anyway
Charles filled us in on how we sold Dunkirk (Cromwell having just won it) back to the French. But there may be other things on the charge sheet. Let’s see !
Perhaps Charles S needs consider changing his name if he’s convinced there’s more than coincidence about Charles underperformance here …
âSecretâ Treaty of Dover.
In what way was Charles II a traitor?
The chinless wonder is an embarrassment.
He seems to believe that an accident of birth gives him a right to public platform. He is completely out of touch with the reality of the lives of ordinary people but thinks he is entitled to lecture us on how we should live our lives while he continues to enjoy a life of privilege, wealth and comfort that the rest of us can barely imagine. All he will succeed in doing is focusing the public’s attention on how anachronistic and repugnant the monarchy is built as it is on hierarchy and deference which Charlie boy seem to think is his entitlement.
His son does not appear to be any better.
A shame because I think their is still value in a constitutional monarchy, provided you have the right monarch
Have you paid your prole subscription this year? it’s only the price of a couple of chips on each shoulder?
You did not read my comment.
My complaint is that Charlie is an arse, which he very plainly is.
Your ignorance has been showing for some time now. Calling someone an arse says more about you than about them. Plus, since it’s your opinion not a fact, you should say “I think” Charles is an arse. Take responsibility for your assumptions.
Jawhol mein Kommandant
Jawhol mein Kommandant
Your ignorance has been showing for some time now. Calling someone an arse says more about you than about them. Plus, since it’s your opinion not a fact, you should say “I think” Charles is an arse. Take responsibility for your assumptions.
You did not read my comment.
My complaint is that Charlie is an arse, which he very plainly is.
… But with the wrong monarch it is merely glorified nepotism!
How can there be a wrong monarch if there is someone who is next in line?
Wrong monarch in the sense of lack of character and integrity, not genes.
Precisely what I meant, Clare.
Precisely what I meant, Clare.
Wrong monarch in the sense of lack of character and integrity, not genes.
With ANY so-called Monarch. It is the epitome of Nepotism. I would NEVER make that proclamation his PR firm is promoting, for the crowds at the Coronation to to pledge allegiance to him and his offspring forever and ever. What a complete joke. His mother is rolling her eyes into the back of her head in Heaven. As is his father.
at least we aren’t expected to bang saucepans together this time
at least we aren’t expected to bang saucepans together this time
How can there be a wrong monarch if there is someone who is next in line?
With ANY so-called Monarch. It is the epitome of Nepotism. I would NEVER make that proclamation his PR firm is promoting, for the crowds at the Coronation to to pledge allegiance to him and his offspring forever and ever. What a complete joke. His mother is rolling her eyes into the back of her head in Heaven. As is his father.
I agree with your last point wholeheartedly. It is certainly applicable in the context of my own country (New Zealand). The constitutional monarchy has truly served us well. Charles’ accession to the throne has however only but fuelled the republican movement in this part of the world; New Zealand once having been a very loyal supporter of his late mother’s (now all but defunct) Commonwealth of Nations. A sad passing. King Charles it seems is more interested in fĂȘting those who are opposed to the monarchy (and Christianity) than he is in offering reassurance to those who were once (traditionally) loyal to it. I will therefore not be watching the coronation of this woke monarch on television and I will be voting (with a heavy heart) that New Zealand becomes a republic when our politicians finally spring that referendum upon us.
Please don’t go. We need you.
Sarcasm I hope!
Sarcasm I hope!
As a Canadian, I am with you. The rest of my comment was just censored by an algorithm.
For President Jacinta. Really? Careful what you wish for
True, the Governor-General should have simply sacked her.
True, the Governor-General should have simply sacked her.
Please don’t go. We need you.
As a Canadian, I am with you. The rest of my comment was just censored by an algorithm.
For President Jacinta. Really? Careful what you wish for
I thought the main point of a monarchy, in the first place, was to have the bloodline continue to rule. Therefore, it is certainly not an accident of birth. How else do you become a king, by dueling?
Warren, dueling with as large an armys as you could muster, usually!
Two thousand plus Savoyard mercenaries pulled it off perfectly for the usurper Henry Tudor at Bosworth in 1485 for example.
Two thousand plus Savoyard mercenaries pulled it off perfectly for the usurper Henry Tudor at Bosworth in 1485 for example.
I don’t think the bloodline is the point; rather it is the means. However, it is useful to have a head of state who is not elected so that while the elected leaders change (sometmes too often) , there is some continuity. However, an unelected leader should not have any power and our monarchy fits those criteria.
Warren, dueling with as large an armys as you could muster, usually!
I don’t think the bloodline is the point; rather it is the means. However, it is useful to have a head of state who is not elected so that while the elected leaders change (sometmes too often) , there is some continuity. However, an unelected leader should not have any power and our monarchy fits those criteria.
I agree. What the late Queen knew and Charles seems to not accept is the Monarch is a symbol. I think the monarchy is a great and unique aspect of the United Kingdom but what a King or Queen thinks, feels, wants is of no interest to me. Her late majesty, or possibly her husband, did a very bad job with her sons, as they all seem to have a sense of entitlement which is in danger of bringing down the whole institution. Edward and William are only saved by having married down to earth, sensible, middle-class girls. Jumping down the slavery, reparations rabbit hole, Charles’s latest stupidity, is never going to appease the groups who hate this country and the monarchy and may indeed be the straw that breaks the backs of the majority of the population, who are not social justice warrior globalists.
Yes out of touch and more than time for quaint monarchy to go. But Tony Blair for President? And in Irish Republic anglophobic Michael D Higgins going to silly coronation
A counter argument is that, denied a vote and a life of his choosing, Charles finds his human rights infringed. Viewed through the lens of harmony, – Harmony: A New Way of Looking at the World, his book, remember? – King Charles IIIâs loss of individual rights is offset â balanced – by the value of his community service. It is evident, too, that liberal democracy (why we might oppose monarchy) is more about individualism than egalitarianism or human welfare.
Sinophiles might smile that Charles believes that harmony is a new way of looking at the world, given the conceptâs centrality in traditional Chinese thought. He does, in fact, quote the Taoist sage Lao Zi on the unity of nature. But much of what King Charles III writes echoes more closely the words of Chinaâs President Xi Jinping.
Charles believes that âour most pressing modern challengesâfrom climate change to povertyâare rooted in mankind’s disharmony with natureâ and advocates approaches that not only âdepend upon us seeing Nature as a wholeâ, but also âthe great and practical value in seeing the nature of humanity as a wholeâ.
Similarly, President Xi Jinping, speaking by video link to the Biological Diversity Conference (COP15), held in Kunming in 2021, opined that âall beings flourish when they live in harmony and receive nourishment from natureâ and that âif we humanity do not fail nature, nature will not fail usâ. Moreover, in his Report to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in October 2022, he argued that the essential requirements of Chinese modernization should include âpromoting harmony between humanity and nature, building a human community with a shared future, and creating a new form of human advancement.â
Lifelong socialist and world-renowned violinist, Nigel Kennedy, says he would prefer Charles âto be prime minister rather than kingâ on the grounds that âhe is more socialist than the Labour Partyâ. Maybe he has a point.
Have you paid your prole subscription this year? it’s only the price of a couple of chips on each shoulder?
… But with the wrong monarch it is merely glorified nepotism!
I agree with your last point wholeheartedly. It is certainly applicable in the context of my own country (New Zealand). The constitutional monarchy has truly served us well. Charles’ accession to the throne has however only but fuelled the republican movement in this part of the world; New Zealand once having been a very loyal supporter of his late mother’s (now all but defunct) Commonwealth of Nations. A sad passing. King Charles it seems is more interested in fĂȘting those who are opposed to the monarchy (and Christianity) than he is in offering reassurance to those who were once (traditionally) loyal to it. I will therefore not be watching the coronation of this woke monarch on television and I will be voting (with a heavy heart) that New Zealand becomes a republic when our politicians finally spring that referendum upon us.
I thought the main point of a monarchy, in the first place, was to have the bloodline continue to rule. Therefore, it is certainly not an accident of birth. How else do you become a king, by dueling?
I agree. What the late Queen knew and Charles seems to not accept is the Monarch is a symbol. I think the monarchy is a great and unique aspect of the United Kingdom but what a King or Queen thinks, feels, wants is of no interest to me. Her late majesty, or possibly her husband, did a very bad job with her sons, as they all seem to have a sense of entitlement which is in danger of bringing down the whole institution. Edward and William are only saved by having married down to earth, sensible, middle-class girls. Jumping down the slavery, reparations rabbit hole, Charles’s latest stupidity, is never going to appease the groups who hate this country and the monarchy and may indeed be the straw that breaks the backs of the majority of the population, who are not social justice warrior globalists.
Yes out of touch and more than time for quaint monarchy to go. But Tony Blair for President? And in Irish Republic anglophobic Michael D Higgins going to silly coronation
A counter argument is that, denied a vote and a life of his choosing, Charles finds his human rights infringed. Viewed through the lens of harmony, – Harmony: A New Way of Looking at the World, his book, remember? – King Charles IIIâs loss of individual rights is offset â balanced – by the value of his community service. It is evident, too, that liberal democracy (why we might oppose monarchy) is more about individualism than egalitarianism or human welfare.
Sinophiles might smile that Charles believes that harmony is a new way of looking at the world, given the conceptâs centrality in traditional Chinese thought. He does, in fact, quote the Taoist sage Lao Zi on the unity of nature. But much of what King Charles III writes echoes more closely the words of Chinaâs President Xi Jinping.
Charles believes that âour most pressing modern challengesâfrom climate change to povertyâare rooted in mankind’s disharmony with natureâ and advocates approaches that not only âdepend upon us seeing Nature as a wholeâ, but also âthe great and practical value in seeing the nature of humanity as a wholeâ.
Similarly, President Xi Jinping, speaking by video link to the Biological Diversity Conference (COP15), held in Kunming in 2021, opined that âall beings flourish when they live in harmony and receive nourishment from natureâ and that âif we humanity do not fail nature, nature will not fail usâ. Moreover, in his Report to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in October 2022, he argued that the essential requirements of Chinese modernization should include âpromoting harmony between humanity and nature, building a human community with a shared future, and creating a new form of human advancement.â
Lifelong socialist and world-renowned violinist, Nigel Kennedy, says he would prefer Charles âto be prime minister rather than kingâ on the grounds that âhe is more socialist than the Labour Partyâ. Maybe he has a point.
All very mean spirited comments.
He’s far from perfect but at least Charles’ heart is in the right place, his philosophies and convictions are well intentended and he appears to genuinely care for individuals and the wider public.
It’s not where his heart is that matters : it’ where his brain is that counts.
He has to remember that he is a constitutional monarch, not a ruler. The Government rules – Charles’s job is to smile and wave, and keep his opinions (whether fatuous or not) to himself.
His mother may have been wise, or not, but she had the good sense not to provide ammunition against herself.
He seems to do this rather well most of the time, must be very difficult to appear wise and worthy yet please all factions, as seen in Nell Clover’s cynical comments above.
The queen was passive/aggressive, rather dull and lacking in curiosity. These personality traits worked well for a monarch in past centuries, but we’ve outgrown those type of characteristics. It’s going to be far more challenging for Charles to be king than it was for Elizabeth to be queen. I’m not a royalist, but I wish the poor b****r good luck.
And the ‘good sense’ to accede to the throne on the death of her father when she was twenty-five?
Our present King had to carve out a role for himself during his mother’s long and blessedly capable reign. He used his time to champion many in the UK and Commonwealth who otherwise had no champion, and used his influence for the good, particularly, of young people who had poor life chances but plenty of motivation. Perhaps those who are so ready to dismiss him would do well to take a look at what he has done, rather than using their ignorance as a platform for denigrating him.
Except that by being passive/aggressive her lack of taking action had negative consequences as much as if she had been assertive.
He seems to do this rather well most of the time, must be very difficult to appear wise and worthy yet please all factions, as seen in Nell Clover’s cynical comments above.
The queen was passive/aggressive, rather dull and lacking in curiosity. These personality traits worked well for a monarch in past centuries, but we’ve outgrown those type of characteristics. It’s going to be far more challenging for Charles to be king than it was for Elizabeth to be queen. I’m not a royalist, but I wish the poor b****r good luck.
And the ‘good sense’ to accede to the throne on the death of her father when she was twenty-five?
Our present King had to carve out a role for himself during his mother’s long and blessedly capable reign. He used his time to champion many in the UK and Commonwealth who otherwise had no champion, and used his influence for the good, particularly, of young people who had poor life chances but plenty of motivation. Perhaps those who are so ready to dismiss him would do well to take a look at what he has done, rather than using their ignorance as a platform for denigrating him.
Except that by being passive/aggressive her lack of taking action had negative consequences as much as if she had been assertive.
Well said and true. One doesn’t get the feeling that Charles is self-serving like Andrew. He’s committed to the job he inherited just as his mother was. Of course, there are outrageous perks to the job but nevertheless it looks pretty tedious.
In what way does he appear to care for individuals? He has been evicting his tenants from the Isles of Scily using a unique perogative held by no one else, not even the state, that denies tenants the right to buy their freehold. Worse still, Charles used his position – in secret, only revealed in the spider letters – to ensure recent legislation protected that privilege. This is a man literally abusing his feudal powers to rinse tenants.
You clearly have an issue with him, so these kind of conspiracies will sit well with your biases. He’s a good and honest man whether you like him or not.
How on earth would you know that? Someone as rich as he, evicting freeholders? They work the land because of the promise of OWNING it after their labour. He cheated them.
How on earth would you know that? Someone as rich as he, evicting freeholders? They work the land because of the promise of OWNING it after their labour. He cheated them.
You clearly have an issue with him, so these kind of conspiracies will sit well with your biases. He’s a good and honest man whether you like him or not.
He is a promoter of the World Economic Forum. That group of elitists are NOT well intended, nor do they care one bit for âthe common manâ. I believe one of their members, Hillary Clinton, described their thinking on we useless eaters (WEF wording) as âdeplorablesâ. Lest we forget.
It’s not where his heart is that matters : it’ where his brain is that counts.
He has to remember that he is a constitutional monarch, not a ruler. The Government rules – Charles’s job is to smile and wave, and keep his opinions (whether fatuous or not) to himself.
His mother may have been wise, or not, but she had the good sense not to provide ammunition against herself.
Well said and true. One doesn’t get the feeling that Charles is self-serving like Andrew. He’s committed to the job he inherited just as his mother was. Of course, there are outrageous perks to the job but nevertheless it looks pretty tedious.
In what way does he appear to care for individuals? He has been evicting his tenants from the Isles of Scily using a unique perogative held by no one else, not even the state, that denies tenants the right to buy their freehold. Worse still, Charles used his position – in secret, only revealed in the spider letters – to ensure recent legislation protected that privilege. This is a man literally abusing his feudal powers to rinse tenants.
He is a promoter of the World Economic Forum. That group of elitists are NOT well intended, nor do they care one bit for âthe common manâ. I believe one of their members, Hillary Clinton, described their thinking on we useless eaters (WEF wording) as âdeplorablesâ. Lest we forget.
Excellent comment. Spot on, the article is lost in he same unreal place that Charles likes to see himself.
‘Excellent’ because you know what she’s talking about, or just because your prejudices chime with her comment?
‘Excellent’ because you know what she’s talking about, or just because your prejudices chime with her comment?
Totally agree. I could not believe what I was reading: Green Man King, what pap.
Third time lucky perhaps?
The two previous incumbents with that name proved to be a âcomplete waste of rations â.
The first provoked an appalling Civil War, whilst the second, his son, was an outright traitor.
The chinless wonder is an embarrassment.
He seems to believe that an accident of birth gives him a right to public platform. He is completely out of touch with the reality of the lives of ordinary people but thinks he is entitled to lecture us on how we should live our lives while he continues to enjoy a life of privilege, wealth and comfort that the rest of us can barely imagine. All he will succeed in doing is focusing the public’s attention on how anachronistic and repugnant the monarchy is built as it is on hierarchy and deference which Charlie boy seem to think is his entitlement.
His son does not appear to be any better.
A shame because I think their is still value in a constitutional monarchy, provided you have the right monarch
All very mean spirited comments.
He’s far from perfect but at least Charles’ heart is in the right place, his philosophies and convictions are well intentended and he appears to genuinely care for individuals and the wider public.
Excellent comment. Spot on, the article is lost in he same unreal place that Charles likes to see himself.
Totally agree. I could not believe what I was reading: Green Man King, what pap.
A champion of small family farms does not support nitrogen emission caps that will force small mixed farms out of business.
An age where our neglect of nuclear power has driven ordinary families into financial difficulty won’t be ended by a leader opposed to the heavy industry industry and industrial systems necessary to build nuclear plants.
A tireless promoter of traditional craftsmanship is not going to foster scalable, cheap and affordable solutions.
A genuine love and affection for the humble by someone who wants a world where ordinary people no longer partake in travel is actually a love of hierarchy and privilege.
Nature-friendly farming systems are intensive and high yielding so minimising the land footprint of farming.
A genuine love and affection for the humble and vernacular is not expressed in an occasional holiday.
Sleeping in peasantsâ cottages for a jolly is a simple pleasure but one that isn’t shared with the hoi polloi if you insist on using your retained feudal powers to aggressively raise rents and evict people from your personal fiefdom the Isles of Scily.
A head of state so obviously detached from the reality of his subjects yet extremely comfortable with global elites insisting on a presence in British public affairs and running riot in SW1 because of his birthright will undermine democracy and inflame republican sympathies.
Roussinos’ idea of King Charles has no connection with the reality of Charles and betrays a deep ignorance of the constitutional settlement that permits a monarchy to survive in a free and democratic state.
King Charles was – and will always be – the Patron Saint of the Chronically Uncool. And, as a lifelong member of that particular club, I’m a supporter!
The fact that he was banging on about the environment YEARS before it all went mainstream gives him the kind of prophetic authority that being King requires. I fully believe that Charles is going to be so much better than anyone ever thought and a skilled statesman and diplomat.
Come coronation day, I am going to be stuck to the TV screen. I can’t wait to see this ancient rite performed. Partly because, even though I have been a monarchist all my life (I was born on the Queen’s birthday, I had to be!), I don’t know how I’m going to feel about it all. Am I going to be moved or think it all absurd? The only way to find out is to watch I guess, so I’m here for it!
I’ll have my little party at home in Austria with coronation quiche and black tea with milk and absolutely NO flag-waving or memorabilia junk. Boo to all the naysayers and the miseries, I’m sick of all the negativity. It’s a historic day and I’ll be putting on a nice dress to celebrate.
Donât forget a large slice of âSachertorteâ.
Ooo, well I’m a bit blasphemous on that front Charles. I don’t think Sachertorte is that great. If we’re talking typical Viennese cakes, the Esterhazy Schnitte is the way to go.
Thank you for that recommendation, with such a âfamousâ name it will be very hard to resist!
I second your Sachertorte motion!
Sachertorte would be alright if it wasn’t for the apricot jam. I’ll be in Vienna in June, so will definitely look out for Schnitte.
There is a splendid cut-away model of the Austria-Hungarian Dreadnought S.M.S. Viribus Unitis, at the Military Museum, housed in the Arsenal, just to the north of the main Railway Station.
There is a splendid cut-away model of the Austria-Hungarian Dreadnought S.M.S. Viribus Unitis, at the Military Museum, housed in the Arsenal, just to the north of the main Railway Station.
Thank you for that recommendation, with such a âfamousâ name it will be very hard to resist!
I second your Sachertorte motion!
Sachertorte would be alright if it wasn’t for the apricot jam. I’ll be in Vienna in June, so will definitely look out for Schnitte.
Ooo, well I’m a bit blasphemous on that front Charles. I don’t think Sachertorte is that great. If we’re talking typical Viennese cakes, the Esterhazy Schnitte is the way to go.
I am a royalist. I think a non party aligned head of state, trained and connected over a life time, is of huge value. The history of it all is also of massive value to the economy through tourism.
Weâre on the flight path into London so the 70 formation Typhoons and the Battle of Britain memorial flight came right over our garden on the queenâs jubilee. Much cheering from surrounding gardens.
My daughters cul de sac had a street party. The traditional sandwiches were much enhanced by more exotic delicacies from her Syrian, Thai and Romanian neighbours
and the Ukrainians who live with us. The whole thing was great.
Iâm in Namibia at the moment. My Namibian landlord lives in Manchester and is taking his family down for the coronation. The Ukrainians living in our house are taking their family in for it. My wife will watch as much of it as possible on the tv here.
I donât know why itâs not doing it for me. Maybe itâs my generationâs aversion to âshowing off,â – just about acceptable if you really have something to show off about, really rather sad if you havenât.
That said, your weariness with negativity strikes a chord. Iâll raise a glass to Charles, probably through a lot of cringing.
Have so much fun in Namibia, I went there in 2010 and it was absolutely wonderful. It was a physically tough trip (camping in the desert) but the landscape was just stunning and I have such happy memories of it.
I think this aversion to negativity is the real driving force behind wanting to have a party. I didn’t do that for the jubilee, even though I watched some of it on the TV. The UK and the world at large are in a right old state and who knows what the future will bring. God knows I lie awake at night sometimes and worry about everything from poverty in old-age to AI to the water that is seeping up from under the tiles in my bathroom.
But you can be certain of one thing: nothing good will ever happen if we are all permanently grumpy and give in to negativity. Raise your glass (or bottle of Windhoek lager) with joy.
Nabibia? where is that? Does it still exist?
German South West Africa.
A surprising amount of German is still spoken here and there are several German speaking schools.
I hadnât been aware that they conducted a full on genocidal ethnic cleansing campaign here 1905-08. Up to 500,000 dead.
A dress rehearsal so to speak.
A dress rehearsal so to speak.
Only joking!
A surprising amount of German is still spoken here and there are several German speaking schools.
I hadnât been aware that they conducted a full on genocidal ethnic cleansing campaign here 1905-08. Up to 500,000 dead.
Only joking!
Google it, twit.
just pulling your t*t
just pulling your t*t
German South West Africa.
Google it, twit.
Weâve just got back from a trip round northern Namibia and Botswana sleeping in roof top tents. Absolutely marvellous, stunning, magical.
Things slip back into perspective when you donât see any news for three weeks. Huge chunks of the world still live in shacks, know what sex they are, have big but supportive families and, in many respects, are doing just fine.
Also good to do a bit of men behaving badly in my dotage. Itâs official – a Toyota HiLux is indestructible. Heaven knows we tried.
Iâll probably stick to a good South African red to toast Charlie.
My God, I don’t think my spine has ever completely recovered from the long drives along those Namibian roads in one of the big tourist trucks.
Be sure to read “Sheltering Desert” by Henno Martin, it’s wonderful and quite the Namibian classic: http://the-sheltering-desert.com/
Not to mention another reminder just how good we still have it in spite of current problems.
Thanks Iâll look it up.
Next stop is a couple of months in Maun, Botswana. Try Cry of the Kalahari by mark and delia owens (author of Where the Crawdads Sing).
Fabulous
Thanks Iâll look it up.
Next stop is a couple of months in Maun, Botswana. Try Cry of the Kalahari by mark and delia owens (author of Where the Crawdads Sing).
Fabulous
My God, I don’t think my spine has ever completely recovered from the long drives along those Namibian roads in one of the big tourist trucks.
Be sure to read “Sheltering Desert” by Henno Martin, it’s wonderful and quite the Namibian classic: http://the-sheltering-desert.com/
Not to mention another reminder just how good we still have it in spite of current problems.
Nabibia? where is that? Does it still exist?
Weâve just got back from a trip round northern Namibia and Botswana sleeping in roof top tents. Absolutely marvellous, stunning, magical.
Things slip back into perspective when you donât see any news for three weeks. Huge chunks of the world still live in shacks, know what sex they are, have big but supportive families and, in many respects, are doing just fine.
Also good to do a bit of men behaving badly in my dotage. Itâs official – a Toyota HiLux is indestructible. Heaven knows we tried.
Iâll probably stick to a good South African red to toast Charlie.
Not to lay it on too thick here but your Syrian, Romanian and Ukrainian friends and neighbours have got it right. They might have grown up under an oppressive regime, lived through the aftermath of the fall of communism, or had to leave their countries because of war. And yet they are celebrating! If you are healthy, safe, alive and in a free, peaceful country then that is reason enough.
My feelings exactly. It’s called ambivalence!!
Have so much fun in Namibia, I went there in 2010 and it was absolutely wonderful. It was a physically tough trip (camping in the desert) but the landscape was just stunning and I have such happy memories of it.
I think this aversion to negativity is the real driving force behind wanting to have a party. I didn’t do that for the jubilee, even though I watched some of it on the TV. The UK and the world at large are in a right old state and who knows what the future will bring. God knows I lie awake at night sometimes and worry about everything from poverty in old-age to AI to the water that is seeping up from under the tiles in my bathroom.
But you can be certain of one thing: nothing good will ever happen if we are all permanently grumpy and give in to negativity. Raise your glass (or bottle of Windhoek lager) with joy.
Not to lay it on too thick here but your Syrian, Romanian and Ukrainian friends and neighbours have got it right. They might have grown up under an oppressive regime, lived through the aftermath of the fall of communism, or had to leave their countries because of war. And yet they are celebrating! If you are healthy, safe, alive and in a free, peaceful country then that is reason enough.
My feelings exactly. It’s called ambivalence!!
Katherine, you are, of course perfectly entitled to sign up to the King’s mad GangGreen religion if that is what you want to believe.
The fact that there is zero scientific evidence that a trivial increase in a trace gas essential to all life on Earth and an associated probably trivial increase in warmth has been anything but BENEFICIAL will no doubt be brushed away by not only the King but also by you and his legions of supplicants. (Not to mention those who trouser the enormous ill-gotten gains).
Maybe in a few years, when you are increasingly negatively effected by the WEF’s policies, the ridiculously expensive and unreliable Ruinable Energy, the destruction of the economy, the obvious fact that “weather” is not noticeably any more “extreme” than it ever has been; then you may have a Damascene conversion back to reality.
But it will then be too late. A pity about the gullibility, but there you are.
I greatly regret the lost opportunity of the common sense, hard working, humane alternative of Good Queen Anne II.
The Good Queen Anne II? Britain has only ever had one Queen Anne and her biggest achievement was to be as wide as she was tall.
Time for the slimline version then ?
We did actually rack up some pretty impressive away results against the French under Queen Anne. Andshe did a nice style in houses.
Greatly enjoyed your comments and this whole thread. Enjoy the celebrations in Austria.
Not so good in the Peninsula, where Berwick & Co, simply thrashed us.
Almansa being a particularly humiliating defeat, probably unrivalled until Dunkirk or Singapore.
Not so good in the Peninsula, where Berwick & Co, simply thrashed us.
Almansa being a particularly humiliating defeat, probably unrivalled until Dunkirk or Singapore.
I think Martin means he’d rather have Charles’s sister, Anne, as the next monarch, don’t you Martin?
Time for the slimline version then ?
We did actually rack up some pretty impressive away results against the French under Queen Anne. Andshe did a nice style in houses.
Greatly enjoyed your comments and this whole thread. Enjoy the celebrations in Austria.
I think Martin means he’d rather have Charles’s sister, Anne, as the next monarch, don’t you Martin?
Yes, even Prince Philip was cured of the Green Religion in his old age. I think Charles had quite a few arguments with his sister, who is more of a realist and open to counter arguments, especially about farming. I am with you:
Queen Anne II would have been the better alternative to Charles III.
The Good Queen Anne II? Britain has only ever had one Queen Anne and her biggest achievement was to be as wide as she was tall.
Yes, even Prince Philip was cured of the Green Religion in his old age. I think Charles had quite a few arguments with his sister, who is more of a realist and open to counter arguments, especially about farming. I am with you:
Queen Anne II would have been the better alternative to Charles III.
Hear hear. Well said, Katherine
I’m ambivalent about royalty. I feel about it as do about religion they’re both a load of rubbish. But I like Christmas carols, medieval churches and stained glass windows as much as I like castles, royal gossip and pageantry. The Bucolic, English, pastoral life of my childhood is in my blood, and seeing a picture of a bluebell wood still brings tears to my eyes. I anticipated that watching the queen’s funeral would irritate me, but to my surprise I wept for hours along with many others. I realize the funeral itself was merely the trigger for a catharsis, and that the grief had little to do with the queen’s death. Nevertheless……………….
Oddly, I didn’t weep at the Queen’s funeral. I just felt profoundly grateful to have grown up in a country headed up by such a great lady.
It was Prince Philip’s funeral where the waterworks got turned on. I was never a big fan of his in life – in fact I didn’t think about him much at all. I think it was because I only realised when he died just how much he had given up to marry the Queen and how much good he had done. And that reading about the natural world in the almost empty chapel…that finished me off completely.
I don’t understand what you mean by “reading about the natural world”.
I don’t understand what you mean by “reading about the natural world”.
You’re not alone. I feel pretty much the same as these things.
Oddly, I didn’t weep at the Queen’s funeral. I just felt profoundly grateful to have grown up in a country headed up by such a great lady.
It was Prince Philip’s funeral where the waterworks got turned on. I was never a big fan of his in life – in fact I didn’t think about him much at all. I think it was because I only realised when he died just how much he had given up to marry the Queen and how much good he had done. And that reading about the natural world in the almost empty chapel…that finished me off completely.
You’re not alone. I feel pretty much the same as these things.
Donât forget a large slice of âSachertorteâ.
I am a royalist. I think a non party aligned head of state, trained and connected over a life time, is of huge value. The history of it all is also of massive value to the economy through tourism.
Weâre on the flight path into London so the 70 formation Typhoons and the Battle of Britain memorial flight came right over our garden on the queenâs jubilee. Much cheering from surrounding gardens.
My daughters cul de sac had a street party. The traditional sandwiches were much enhanced by more exotic delicacies from her Syrian, Thai and Romanian neighbours
and the Ukrainians who live with us. The whole thing was great.
Iâm in Namibia at the moment. My Namibian landlord lives in Manchester and is taking his family down for the coronation. The Ukrainians living in our house are taking their family in for it. My wife will watch as much of it as possible on the tv here.
I donât know why itâs not doing it for me. Maybe itâs my generationâs aversion to âshowing off,â – just about acceptable if you really have something to show off about, really rather sad if you havenât.
That said, your weariness with negativity strikes a chord. Iâll raise a glass to Charles, probably through a lot of cringing.
Katherine, you are, of course perfectly entitled to sign up to the King’s mad GangGreen religion if that is what you want to believe.
The fact that there is zero scientific evidence that a trivial increase in a trace gas essential to all life on Earth and an associated probably trivial increase in warmth has been anything but BENEFICIAL will no doubt be brushed away by not only the King but also by you and his legions of supplicants. (Not to mention those who trouser the enormous ill-gotten gains).
Maybe in a few years, when you are increasingly negatively effected by the WEF’s policies, the ridiculously expensive and unreliable Ruinable Energy, the destruction of the economy, the obvious fact that “weather” is not noticeably any more “extreme” than it ever has been; then you may have a Damascene conversion back to reality.
But it will then be too late. A pity about the gullibility, but there you are.
I greatly regret the lost opportunity of the common sense, hard working, humane alternative of Good Queen Anne II.
Hear hear. Well said, Katherine
I’m ambivalent about royalty. I feel about it as do about religion they’re both a load of rubbish. But I like Christmas carols, medieval churches and stained glass windows as much as I like castles, royal gossip and pageantry. The Bucolic, English, pastoral life of my childhood is in my blood, and seeing a picture of a bluebell wood still brings tears to my eyes. I anticipated that watching the queen’s funeral would irritate me, but to my surprise I wept for hours along with many others. I realize the funeral itself was merely the trigger for a catharsis, and that the grief had little to do with the queen’s death. Nevertheless……………….
King Charles was – and will always be – the Patron Saint of the Chronically Uncool. And, as a lifelong member of that particular club, I’m a supporter!
The fact that he was banging on about the environment YEARS before it all went mainstream gives him the kind of prophetic authority that being King requires. I fully believe that Charles is going to be so much better than anyone ever thought and a skilled statesman and diplomat.
Come coronation day, I am going to be stuck to the TV screen. I can’t wait to see this ancient rite performed. Partly because, even though I have been a monarchist all my life (I was born on the Queen’s birthday, I had to be!), I don’t know how I’m going to feel about it all. Am I going to be moved or think it all absurd? The only way to find out is to watch I guess, so I’m here for it!
I’ll have my little party at home in Austria with coronation quiche and black tea with milk and absolutely NO flag-waving or memorabilia junk. Boo to all the naysayers and the miseries, I’m sick of all the negativity. It’s a historic day and I’ll be putting on a nice dress to celebrate.
The last thing this country needs is another WEF shill.
âŠheâs part of that club.
The article is satire – isnât it?
One can only hope so.
If only it was satire.
Hard to tell.
One can only hope so.
If only it was satire.
Hard to tell.
Is Charles a WEF shill, or is Charles doing as his Minister’s bid him to do?
He isn’t just some WEF shill, but in fact among its top ringleaders, ironically along with Tony Blair.
He isn’t just some WEF shill, but in fact among its top ringleaders, ironically along with Tony Blair.
Give it a rest.
When it comes to the WEF, I think he is more of a useful idiot, well meaning no doubt, as so many useful idiots are, but an idiot none the less. There seems to be many of them around sadly.
âŠheâs part of that club.
The article is satire – isnât it?
Is Charles a WEF shill, or is Charles doing as his Minister’s bid him to do?
Give it a rest.
When it comes to the WEF, I think he is more of a useful idiot, well meaning no doubt, as so many useful idiots are, but an idiot none the less. There seems to be many of them around sadly.
The last thing this country needs is another WEF shill.
“Similarly, the recent collapse of much of Britainâs intensive agriculture model”.
Really ?
Offered with zero evidence and I suspect quite untrue from visual evidence around me in Cambridgeshire.
The biggest threat to intensive arable farming round these parts is the taxpayer subsidised solar farming. All of it on prime arable land.
“Similarly, the recent collapse of much of Britainâs intensive agriculture model”.
Really ?
Offered with zero evidence and I suspect quite untrue from visual evidence around me in Cambridgeshire.
The biggest threat to intensive arable farming round these parts is the taxpayer subsidised solar farming. All of it on prime arable land.
I remain cautious and sceptical. Whether the monarch embraces the English eccentric or the globalist technocrat remains to be seen. I can only hope he goes with the former.
I remain cautious and sceptical. Whether the monarch embraces the English eccentric or the globalist technocrat remains to be seen. I can only hope he goes with the former.
WEF Charlie? No thanks.
I would like to think he has realized his mistake. We will see. All of us make errors, and at the same time all of us come under competing influences. The corporate-political elite is waiting to see how serious a threat Charles may be. If he proves not to be one of their own, and not just simply a little weird, then they will work very hard indeed to make him out to be very weird indeed.
I would like to think he has realized his mistake. We will see. All of us make errors, and at the same time all of us come under competing influences. The corporate-political elite is waiting to see how serious a threat Charles may be. If he proves not to be one of their own, and not just simply a little weird, then they will work very hard indeed to make him out to be very weird indeed.
WEF Charlie? No thanks.
…your best ever Aris.
…your best ever Aris.
“Farmer George”, with his keen interest in agriculture and genuine commitment to England, bedded down the Hanoverians. Perhaps “Ecowarrior Charles” can likewise connect at some instinctive, almost mystical, level with the land, and national sentiment – and refresh the ruling house after decades of drift
“Farmer George”, with his keen interest in agriculture and genuine commitment to England, bedded down the Hanoverians. Perhaps “Ecowarrior Charles” can likewise connect at some instinctive, almost mystical, level with the land, and national sentiment – and refresh the ruling house after decades of drift
Superb article. The first paragraph is a minor masterpiece in itself.
Agreed, a fine article. ‘Part pampered dandy, part Athite [from Mt Athos] mystic’ sums up this contradictory monarch’s character very well
Agreed, a fine article. ‘Part pampered dandy, part Athite [from Mt Athos] mystic’ sums up this contradictory monarch’s character very well
Superb article. The first paragraph is a minor masterpiece in itself.
Let’s not pretend that Charles is on a lonely and misunderstood mission to promote organic and small scale farming when one of his first acts was to sign into law the Genetic Technology Act 2023. Whatever one thinks of the safety, benefits or otherwise of genetic modification in food and animals, this kind of of GM is a massive commercial opportunity which Charles, being one of our largest landowners will likely understand and exploit. Genuine question – Why does this Act envisage such a draconian inspection system if the genetically modified organisms are tightly controlled and unlikely to escape into the general population and who will own the progeny of any modified organisms if they do? whttps://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/6/pdfs/ukpga_20230006_en.pdf
He didn’t have much choice in signing it…
Actually, he does have a choice, but to not sign would cause massive constitutional ructions.
Actually, he does have a choice, but to not sign would cause massive constitutional ructions.
Good heaves, you seem to believe that the king signing into law some act or other has any connection with his personal beliefs. It does not and constitutionally cannot!
Why not? Don’t most people believe what they sign.
Why not? Don’t most people believe what they sign.
Because if an organic farm is right next to a non-organic one, the seeds can blow to the organic farm and the farmer is screwed.
He didn’t have much choice in signing it…
Good heaves, you seem to believe that the king signing into law some act or other has any connection with his personal beliefs. It does not and constitutionally cannot!
Because if an organic farm is right next to a non-organic one, the seeds can blow to the organic farm and the farmer is screwed.
Let’s not pretend that Charles is on a lonely and misunderstood mission to promote organic and small scale farming when one of his first acts was to sign into law the Genetic Technology Act 2023. Whatever one thinks of the safety, benefits or otherwise of genetic modification in food and animals, this kind of of GM is a massive commercial opportunity which Charles, being one of our largest landowners will likely understand and exploit. Genuine question – Why does this Act envisage such a draconian inspection system if the genetically modified organisms are tightly controlled and unlikely to escape into the general population and who will own the progeny of any modified organisms if they do? whttps://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/6/pdfs/ukpga_20230006_en.pdf
God save the Green King, as God saved his grandfather, George VI, whose coronation in May, 1937, provided the setting for my novel, Smoke.
God save the Green King, as God saved his grandfather, George VI, whose coronation in May, 1937, provided the setting for my novel, Smoke.
I trust that Westminster Abbey has been properly âsweptâ. We wouldnât want a repeat of the The Grand Hotel, Brighton would we?
I was in Westminster last week and there were more police than tourists. Sniffer dogs too.
So were there at Brighton.
However perhaps an 81mm mortar fired from say Tower Hamlets might be more effective?
Or even a prehistoric RPG7 from across Green Park?
Either way it would replicate the spirit of the infamous 11th century Assassins.
By the way, i’ve replied to your comment regarding town halls in the “How Europe Can Defend itself” article.
Thank you.
That explains it, because our âmedievalâ Town Halls are not much to shout about.
However I can now understand why the FĂŒhrer coveted Rochdale.
Thank you.
That explains it, because our âmedievalâ Town Halls are not much to shout about.
However I can now understand why the FĂŒhrer coveted Rochdale.
Trouble is with the 81, is that you have to bed in the base plate with a couple of bombs first!!! gives the posi away!
Not in Tower Hamlets for obvious reasons!
Not in Tower Hamlets for obvious reasons!
Brighton, eh? Say no more.
By the way, i’ve replied to your comment regarding town halls in the “How Europe Can Defend itself” article.
Trouble is with the 81, is that you have to bed in the base plate with a couple of bombs first!!! gives the posi away!
Brighton, eh? Say no more.
So were there at Brighton.
However perhaps an 81mm mortar fired from say Tower Hamlets might be more effective?
Or even a prehistoric RPG7 from across Green Park?
Either way it would replicate the spirit of the infamous 11th century Assassins.
Why the ?
No comprende!
We wouldnât want a repeat of the The Grand Hotel, Brighton would we?