The sword, decorated with royal symbols including the lion and union and fleur de lis, is also used during the state opening of Parliament. Leader of the House of Commons Penny Mordaunt has emerged as the quiet star of the Coronation ceremony – one that nobody saw coming.Ĭarrying out her role as Lord President of the Privy Council, Mordaunt’s stylish appearance soon sparked comparisons to Pippa Middleton’s show-stealing performance at the Prince and Princess of Wales’s wedding in 2011.įor the ceremony, Mordaunt was required to carry the 17th-Century Sword of State into the Abbey in the King's Procession, and continue to hold it aloft for much of the service – specifically at right angles to her body. We can do squeezed sphincters, as well as stiff upper lips, should the need arise.Īllison Pearson: What a remarkable mix of pageantry, religion, history, military display and nostalgia

Portable lavatories locked.' Quintessentially British, then.

Translated from broadcasterese, 40 per cent chance of showers meant: 'It'll bucket down.' Clare skilfully stopped us dwelling on that possibility by somehow knowing the name of every horse that would be on parade.Ī friend who had camped overnight on the Mall texted me: 'Mood wonderful.

'Only a 40 per cent chance of showers,' she boomed in that ebullient, jolly-hockey-sticks style that suits these great national occasions so well. Not long after 8am, BBC1 commentator Clare Balding was determinedly upbeat. Would it cast a pall over the big day or could our longest-serving Prince of Wales come up smiling as the sun king? In short, would Eeyore be transformed by his people's affection into Winnie the Pooh. The sky over Buckingham Palace changed from pale pigeon to a menacing pewter. You prayed that the awfully British weather had not dampened his spirits. The dear chap had waited 70 years for his Coronation. In the past, our former Prince of Wales was known to be prone to gloom, writes Allison Pearson. At least, please don't rain on my reign, or so Charles III must have thought this morning.

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