Balanced News: Charles’s coronation refashions his realm as a multi-cultural kingdom

After a lifetime of service as heir to his mother Queen Elizabeth II, Charles III has finally been crowned king. A coronation ceremony steeped in ancient ritual and brimming with bling at a time when the monarchy is striving to remain relevant in a fractured modern Britain. In displays of royal power straight out of the Middle Ages, Charles was presented with an orb, a sword and sceptre and had the solid gold, bejewelled St. Edward’s Crown placed atop his head as he sat upon the 700-year-old oak Coronation Chair. In front of world leaders, foreign royals, British aristocrats and stars, Charles declared: “I come not to be served but to serve.” Inside the medieval abbey, trumpets sounded and the congregation of more than 2,000 shouted “God save the king!” Outside, thousands of troops, hundreds of thousands of spectators and a smattering of protesters converged. Much of the two-hour Anglican service would have