Helen Irving believes it is undemocratic to swear allegiance to King Charles at his coronation. In the modern style of congregation participation, all those attending the coronation will swear an oath to the newly crowned King (instead of this being done by Dukes) and the worldwide TV audience is being encouraged to join in. Irving says, “Rituals like the proposed oath are not intended to be neutral in their effect. They are meant to be powerful, to stir collective emotion, to associate an idea of national identity with the office of that person. We should be affirming our [own] democracy, celebrating our democratic system, not going along with rituals that symbolise the opposite.” The PM’s responses to questions about his intention revealed little deep thought or consideration of his position and his population decidedly republican in their inclinations. Irving concluded with, “Whatever way you look at it, the proposed “chorus of millions of voices” is undemocratic, historically troubling, potentially divisive and – at the very least – likely to be unachievable.” WfaAR: as it turned out, nothing of the congregation’s utterances could be heard from the Abbey so it all fell rather flat – there were no close-ups of guests either so what our PM did at the time remains unknown. Read the full article below: [“Is it undemocratic to swear allegiance to King Charles? Bloody oath!” by Professor Helen Irving, The Sydney Morning Herald online, 5 May 2023].
Woman for an Australian Republic, Adelaide Ironside, republican poet and artist 1831-1867
Self portrait 1855, Newcastle Art Gallery NSW
