King Charles, the coronation, and the future

After the coronation, the king went to Buckingham Palace in a golden carriage

In May 2023, King Charles III was crowned as King of England, the United
Kingdom and other Commonwealth Realms. The ceremony took place in
London's Westminster Abbey, where English Kings and Queens have been
crowned for 1000 years or more.

King Charles sat on a throne that is more than 700 years old. He was crowned
by the Archbishop of Canterbury, with the "Saint Edward's Crown", a royal
crown that has been used since the year 1320, and perhaps for more than
1,000 years. His wife Camilla was crowned as Queen Camilla. She wore a more
modern crown, one that was made in 1911 for Queen Mary, the wife of King
George V.

About 2,000 people attended the ceremony inside the Abbey, but the event
was seen live on TV by millions all over the world; although Charles's
coronation lasted for two hours, it was simpler and shorter than the last
coronation, that of his mother "the Queen" in 1953. Times have
changed, attitudes have changed, and the British monarchy has just
changed considerably.

Not all things have changed! After the ceremony in Westminster Abbey, King
Charles and Queen Camilla were carried to Buckingham Palace in a
golden carriage, pulled by horses, . Following another tradition, they then
came out onto the balcony, to wave to the crowds below.
The Coronation was a great national day of festivities all over the UK and
beyond. The festivities continued all the weekend, and into Monday when there
was a special national holiday. There were flags all over the country, souvenirs
and decorations in shops, monuments and public places, and street parties in
cities, towns and villages.

Street parties are a popular tradition in Britain. People who live on the same
street, or in the same building, bring out tables and chairs, cakes and
sandwiches, tea and other drinks, and enjoy a tea party together. Anyone can
organise a street party. They now happen whenever there is a big national day
of celebration. Street parties do not happen every year, since there is no
"national day" in Britain! Britain does not have an Independence Day like the
USA, nor an Eid as in Muslim countries, nor a 14th July like France… and
nobody wants to organise an outdoor street party at Christmas or for the New
Year!

During the Coronation weekend, most people in Britain celebrated the

Coronation, as they were happy to have a new King, but some did not. Two
thirds of people in Britain are happy with the monarchy, or accept it, but there
are others who want Britain to become a republic. Yet for now, republicans are
in a small minority, representing just 25% of the population, according to an
opinion poll made a few days after the Coronation.

What will happen next? That will depend very much on King Charles. He has
said that he wants to modernise the British monarchy and make it
more relevant to the 21st century. If he succeeds, the monarchy may continue
for many years to come. If he fails, who knows what will happen?

►►► Read more about King Charles: Britain's new king (with audio)

Word guide
Crown - an official hat used by monarchs - realm: kingdom - throne - a seat for
kings, as in "Game of Thrones" - bishop, archbishop : the top people in a
church - attend: be present at - attitude: the way people think about things
- considerably - a lot, in a big way - carriage: a vehicle without a motor - wave
- make a sign with the hands and arms - enjoy : have a good time - Muslim
- Islamic - monarch: a king or a queen - a minority: (much) less than half - two
thirds: 67% - depend on: be a result of - relevant to: appropriate for, suitable
for - fail: the opposite of succeed.
Grammar
:
1. Verb tenses, past.
When it was first posted, this text was about the future..... not just the future of
the British monarchy, but about expressing the future, in grammatical terms.
The event has now pased, and like most reports, the text now refers to the
event using past tenses.
Paragraphs 2 and 3 have some classic uses of the present perfect

2. Negation
Paragraphs 6 and 7 have half a dozen examples of different types
of negation in English. It is iportant to show how negation can be applied in
different ways, not just by adding not to a verb, but alternatively by adding no to
a noun, uing neither or nor, or using a negative word such as nobody. These
different types of negation are explored in the multiple choice exercise above.

The multiple choice exercise

Several boxes require students to select the correct negative structure.
Note that in box 4 of the first paragraph, the only acceptable answer
is nor. Neither can only introduce the first element in a list, not the second.
In the second box of the second paragraph, the choices with of are not possible
since we cannot say of people.
In the sixth box, only one of the modal verbs is possible.

The anagrams
The purpose of an exercise like this is not so much to find the answers, as to
make students look attentively for the answers, which involves a word by word
approach to the text. They also need to pay attention to spelling.