Firstpost
  • Home
  • Video Shows
    Vantage Firstpost America Firstpost Africa First Sports
  • World
    US News
  • Explainers
  • News
    India Opinion Cricket Tech Entertainment Sports Health Photostories
  • Asia Cup 2025
Apple Incorporated Modi ji Justin Trudeau Trending

Sections

  • Home
  • Live TV
  • Videos
  • Shows
  • World
  • India
  • Explainers
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Cricket
  • Health
  • Tech/Auto
  • Entertainment
  • Web Stories
  • Business
  • Impact Shorts

Shows

  • Vantage
  • Firstpost America
  • Firstpost Africa
  • First Sports
  • Fast and Factual
  • Between The Lines
  • Flashback
  • Live TV

Events

  • Raisina Dialogue
  • Independence Day
  • Champions Trophy
  • Delhi Elections 2025
  • Budget 2025
  • US Elections 2024
  • Firstpost Defence Summit
Trending:
  • PM Modi in Manipur
  • Charlie Kirk killer
  • Sushila Karki
  • IND vs PAK
  • India-US ties
  • New human organ
  • Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale Movie Review
fp-logo
The British monarchy has always controlled how much the public sees of it. Will King Charles III change that?
Whatsapp Facebook Twitter
Whatsapp Facebook Twitter
Apple Incorporated Modi ji Justin Trudeau Trending

Sections

  • Home
  • Live TV
  • Videos
  • Shows
  • World
  • India
  • Explainers
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Cricket
  • Health
  • Tech/Auto
  • Entertainment
  • Web Stories
  • Business
  • Impact Shorts

Shows

  • Vantage
  • Firstpost America
  • Firstpost Africa
  • First Sports
  • Fast and Factual
  • Between The Lines
  • Flashback
  • Live TV

Events

  • Raisina Dialogue
  • Independence Day
  • Champions Trophy
  • Delhi Elections 2025
  • Budget 2025
  • US Elections 2024
  • Firstpost Defence Summit
  • Home
  • World
  • The British monarchy has always controlled how much the public sees of it. Will King Charles III change that?

The British monarchy has always controlled how much the public sees of it. Will King Charles III change that?

the conversation • January 3, 2023, 15:41:30 IST
Whatsapp Facebook Twitter

Censorship and royal control are not uncommon. The same can be expected at Charles III’s coronation. The royal family’s success is dependent on the palace’s careful curation of their image, as well as their ongoing battle with the media over what can and cannot be shown

Advertisement
Subscribe Join Us
Add as a preferred source on Google
Prefer
Firstpost
On
Google
The British monarchy has always controlled how much the public sees of it. Will King Charles III change that?

The late author Hilary Mantel once wrote of Queen Elizabeth II that she was “a thing that existed to be looked at”. This became even truer in death. From the moment the sovereign left Balmoral Castle in the back of the glassy hearse on 8 September, 2022, we could, if we wanted, stare non0stop at her coffin for the eight days that followed.

The visibility of the monarchy — of both Elizabeth II and of her successor, Charles III — during that extraordinary period was unprecedented.

Monarchs have not always attended funerals. As historian Matthias Range shows in his book British Royal and State Funerals, Charles I was chief mourner at James I’s funeral in 1625, but this was unusual. The next incoming heir to be visible at the funeral of his predecessor was William IV in 1830. By contrast, as Elizabeth II gradually withdrew from the public’s gaze, a grieving King was there to fill the vacuum.

This served to ease and legitimise the regime change.

STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD

And the exposure was, for many, affecting. In my book, The Drama of Coronation: Medieval Ceremony in Early Modern England, I show how the emotional bonds between a monarch and their people have long been deliberately nurtured through ceremony. The modern royal family in particular relies on these bonds to survive. People were surprised, then, when it was reported that the palace had negotiated with the broadcasters to restrict how much footage of the national mourning period they could keep. This raises questions about what levels of visibility and transparency are appropriate for the slimmed-down monarchy promised by Charles III, and about the purpose of royal ritual and pageantry in a modern world. As my research on the royal tours shows, visibility has always been risky. But it is also risky to lurch between full-on exposure and selective secrecy. How royal visibility is manufactured The non-stop coverage of the period of national mourning showed how there can be unwelcome moments. Video footage of a man rushing at the Queen’s coffin as she lay in state in Westminster Hall has, for example, been removed. After the funeral, it was revealed that the BBC, ITV and Sky had one week in which to make only 60 minutes of the entire ten days’ coverage available. This worried both journalists and historians about the extent of royal control and the censoring of what was a national, historical event. [caption id=“attachment_11920132” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Questions have been raised about the levels of visibility and transparency appropriate for the slimmed-down monarchy promised by Charles III. AP[/caption] The palace declined to comment. This is not unusual. We can expect the same at Charles III’s coronation. The royal family’s success rests on the palace’s careful curation of their image and their ongoing battle with the media about what can and cannot be shown. In 1953, it was agreed that the BBC would not film the moment Elizabeth II was anointed Queen.

Charles is unlikely to request this when he is anointed with consecrated oil on 6 May, 2023, but he could.

More from World
India’s US envoy Kwatra discusses bilateral trade ties with US lawmakers India’s US envoy Kwatra discusses bilateral trade ties with US lawmakers Netanyahu accuses Hamas leaders of derailing ceasefire, says eliminating them in Qatar could end Gaza war Netanyahu accuses Hamas leaders of derailing ceasefire, says eliminating them in Qatar could end Gaza war

Either way, whether visible or hidden, this sacred, pivotal moment of the coronation ceremony will cause a stir. It is a rite which worried even medieval commentators for its imitation of God’s anointing of Christ. The problem with the retrospective censoring of Elizabeth II’s funeral was that it felt like a betrayal. Her death and the accession of Charles had been so deliberately public, as well as oddly intimate, that we temporarily forgot that access to the royals is always mediated and their visibility manufactured. The discretion often cited as the key to Elizabeth II’s success as a constitutional monarch suited her — she was a young woman — and her time. Charles, by contrast, is 74 and much more open; we already know what he thinks about a lot of things. The 19th-Century constitutional historian Walter Bagehot might have warned about letting in daylight upon magic in his book The English Constitution, but the light has been pouring in for ages and the mystery somehow seems to remain. As Mantel put it: “The faculty of awe remains intact.” A vocal constitutional monarch Much is kept secret, often with good reason, and influence is immeasurable. On the private weekly meetings between sovereign and prime minister, the political theorist Harald Laski wrote in his 1938 book The Monarchy that: “On no element in the Constitution is our knowledge so inexact.” [caption id=“attachment_11920182” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Charles’s views on climate change are well known. As Head of State in 14 other countries as well as the UK, he could, and perhaps should, continue to be vocal about it. To fall silent now would be bizarre. AFP[/caption] With death should come some transparency. But the royal archives in Windsor are famously inaccessible and selective. Those private papers of Elizabeth II that are no longer required for current royal or governmental use will be transferred there now that she has died, but they are not there yet. To the government’s (and palace’s?) dismay, Charles III’s famous “black spider memos”_,_ so-called because of Charles’s distinctive scrawly handwriting, were brought to light in 2015 but in redacted form. These letters to several government departments revealed Charles corresponding with ministers on issues that mattered to him, from housing and health to the environment. The government still maintains that all such correspondence should be private. In early October, the investigative journalism organisation Declassified UK reported that hundreds of Foreign and Commonwealth Office files in the National Archives relating to overseas visits made by Charles when he was Prince of Wales were being retained. When he first spoke to the nation as King, Charles pledged to “uphold the constitutional principles at the heart of our nation”. This referred to his former meddling — or as he called it, “motivating”. In a BBC television interview in 2018 he rebuffed the accusation that he would continue to speak out:

I’m not that stupid. I do realise it is a separate exercise being sovereign.

At the end of October, two days into Rishi Sunak’s premiership, the House of Lords debated the UK government’s decision to not heed COP26 president Alok Sharma’s advice that King Charles should attend COP27 in Egypt. The King hosted a reception at Buckingham Palace instead. But Charles’s views on climate change are well known. As Head of State in 14 other countries as well as the UK, he could, and perhaps should, continue to be vocal about it. To fall silent now would be bizarre. Indeed, there are many other issues which a Head of State could usefully address with care. Has the time come for a non-mute constitutional monarch?The Conversation This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Read all the Latest News , Trending News , Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Tags
Media Censorship Royal Family regulation Elizabeth Charles Control King Charles british monarch media restrictions
End of Article
Latest News
Find us on YouTube
Subscribe
End of Article

Impact Shorts

‘The cries of this widow will echo’: In first public remarks, Erika Kirk warns Charlie’s killers they’ve ‘unleashed a fire’

‘The cries of this widow will echo’: In first public remarks, Erika Kirk warns Charlie’s killers they’ve ‘unleashed a fire’

Erika Kirk delivered an emotional speech from her late husband's studio, addressing President Trump directly. She urged people to join a church and keep Charlie Kirk's mission alive, despite technical interruptions. Erika vowed to continue Charlie's campus tours and podcast, promising his mission will not end.

More Impact Shorts

Top Stories

Russian drones over Poland: Trump’s tepid reaction a wake-up call for Nato?

Russian drones over Poland: Trump’s tepid reaction a wake-up call for Nato?

As Russia pushes east, Ukraine faces mounting pressure to defend its heartland

As Russia pushes east, Ukraine faces mounting pressure to defend its heartland

Why Mossad was not on board with Israel’s strike on Hamas in Qatar

Why Mossad was not on board with Israel’s strike on Hamas in Qatar

Turkey: Erdogan's police arrest opposition mayor Hasan Mutlu, dozens officials in corruption probe

Turkey: Erdogan's police arrest opposition mayor Hasan Mutlu, dozens officials in corruption probe

Russian drones over Poland: Trump’s tepid reaction a wake-up call for Nato?

Russian drones over Poland: Trump’s tepid reaction a wake-up call for Nato?

As Russia pushes east, Ukraine faces mounting pressure to defend its heartland

As Russia pushes east, Ukraine faces mounting pressure to defend its heartland

Why Mossad was not on board with Israel’s strike on Hamas in Qatar

Why Mossad was not on board with Israel’s strike on Hamas in Qatar

Turkey: Erdogan's police arrest opposition mayor Hasan Mutlu, dozens officials in corruption probe

Turkey: Erdogan's police arrest opposition mayor Hasan Mutlu, dozens officials in corruption probe

Top Shows

Vantage Firstpost America Firstpost Africa First Sports
Latest News About Firstpost
Most Searched Categories
  • Web Stories
  • World
  • India
  • Explainers
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Cricket
  • Tech/Auto
  • Entertainment
  • IPL 2025
NETWORK18 SITES
  • News18
  • Money Control
  • CNBC TV18
  • Forbes India
  • Advertise with us
  • Sitemap
Firstpost Logo

is on YouTube

Subscribe Now

Copyright @ 2024. Firstpost - All Rights Reserved

About Us Contact Us Privacy Policy Cookie Policy Terms Of Use
Home Video Shorts Live TV