Hello everyone! As always, May is a busy month for royals around the world as they hustle to fit in as many engagements as they can before they are on vacation at the end of June/beginning of July. And that is doubly so when you have a coronation, so this is a jam-packed post. If you have missed this earlier, this will be my last Musings on Monarchy post here on the blog- I am now covering this in my twice-monthly Substack newsletter! (Because it is released twice a month, that means that you will get double the amount of royal news and analysis.) Onto Musings on Monarchy: May 2023!
King Charles III’s Coronation
Obviously, The King’s coronation is the big royal news of May, so we will start there. I woke up here in the middle of Canada at 2:15am to watch it all, and I am so glad that I did. As an historian of monarchy, there was something indescribable about seeing the objects used that I’ve seen on display how many times and seeing the ceremony carried out.
After the ceremony, I will say there are some things coming up again and again in the news. Firstly, there is the cost of the Coronation and the weekend as a whole- there is no confirmation yet, so this isn’t really a helpful question. I will say though, I do not believe that that money was “pulled” from other things by the government, I think that this money was always held for the Coronation.
Secondly, there was the tiaras or lack thereof. Many people speculated as to why no tiaras were worn, and nothing has been confirmed on that either. However, The Princess of Wales and Princess Charlotte wore their laurel wreaths beautifully.
Finally, there is the question of where Charles and Camilla were after the Coronation. They obviously took part in their own coronation and the balcony appearance, and they did enjoy the Coronation Concert at Windsor. However, they left the Big Coronation Lunch and the Big Help Out to the other working members of the Royal Family. I suspect that given that they are in their mid-seventies, they were simply recovering from the stressful and long day. And it really is not a bad thing for the other senior members of the royal to show that they are supporting them, as well.
Princess Leonor of Spain and Princess Alexia of the Netherlands Graduate Together
We recently had two European royals graduate from secondary school together in the same class! Both Princess Leonor, the heir to the Spanish throne, and Princess Alexia, second in line to the Dutch throne, graduated from United World College. The boarding school calls St. Donat’s Castle in Cardiff, Wales, home and it is becoming a royal scholastic destination. King Willem-Alexander studied at UWC Atlantic himself in the 1980s, and the former Crown Prince of Greece also studied there. More recently, Princess Elisabeth, heir to the Belgian throne, graduated from UWC Atlantic before heading to the University of Oxford.
While the British Royal Family really appears to like their island status among the royals of the world and keep to themselves, I find it endlessly fascinating just how often the other royal families of Europe and beyond interact. And apparently, the Kings of Spain and the Netherlands were seated together for the graduation ceremony, which had to have been on purpose, right?
Count Henrik of Monpezat’s Confirmation
Count Henrik of Monpezat, the son of Prince Joachim of Denmark and Princess Marie, has had his confirmation and was joined by members of the Danish Royal Family. This is particularly notable as this is one of the first gatherings of the family since Prince Joachim’s children were stripped of their princely titles. If you missed it, it was announced in the fall that in January 2023 Joachim’s children would have the title of Count/Countess of Monpezat going forward. I personally agreed with Queen Margrethe’s choice of stripping them on a set date instead of waiting until each child turned 25 as apparently had originally been suggested, as a royal title stops carrying any real weight once you have an end date on it.
The Queen was not able to attend the ceremony that was held in Paris (where the couple and their children live right now) as she is still recovering from back surgery. However, Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary and their four children attended the event, hopefully indicating a bit of a mend in the family. In any case, it is a significant moment for Henrik!
The Jordanian Royals Prepare for a Wedding
I will admit, I am not as familiar with the Jordanian royals. However, they are certainly going to be in the spotlight over the next month as Crown Prince Hussein is getting married on 1 June. He is marrying a Saudi Arabian architect, Rajwa Al Saif, and pre-wedding preparations and events are now in full swing.
Queen Rania hosted a traditional henna party for her future daughter-in-law, and they were joined by several female members of the Jordanian Royal Family, as well as friends and family of the bride and groom.
The big question being asked about the wedding, like the coronation, is which royals will be attending? Princess Elisabeth of Belgium will be attending with her father, King Philippe, and Princess Catharina-Amalia of the Netherlands will be attending with her parents, King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima. The Scandinavian royals will also be well represented, with Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel of Sweden and Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway sending in their RSVP, as well as Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark. Unsurprisingly, there has been no update on who from the British Royal Family will attend. Although Prince William is reportedly good friends with Hussein, William and Catherine seem to rarely attend any other royal events. (A solid bet is the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, aka Edward and Sophie.)
Thank you for joining me for Musings on Monarchy: May 2023! And if you want more of my thoughts on royal news or would like to support the blog, you can subscribe to my substack newsletter here: https://anhistorianabouttown.substack.com/!
Cheers,
The Historian
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