Alexander Larman is an author and books editor of Spectator World, our US-based edition
For the coronation of Elizabeth II on 2 June 1953, all the members of the Royal Family were present, with one notable exception: her uncle, the former Edward VIII, now the Duke of Windsor. Although Edward had attempted to build civil relations with his niece after her accession to the throne the previous year, it
In the end, after months of speculation, the coronation was a success. In the run-up, the distracting aspect had been the ‘will they, won’t they’ presence of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, fanned by their desire to make themselves the centre of attention. Yet in the event, Prince Harry was an inconspicuous, even diffident
Seasoned observers of Meghan Markle – and by now, surely, there cannot be any other kind – might be forgiven for wondering why the Duchess of Sussex has been keeping a comparatively low profile so far in 2023. Her husband seems ubiquitous, whether popping up in the law courts to denounce the media, plugging his
I am beginning to wonder if there are, in fact, two incarnations of King Charles that co-exist simultaneously. The first is a remarkably generous-spirited and forgiving man, who responds to insults and slights with Christ-like forbearance and shows nothing but a genuine love for his country and his people. And the second is a more
Today’s announcement that Prince Harry will be coming to London for his father’s coronation is not a surprise. Yet it comes with a sting in the tail. It has been revealed that Meghan will not be attending; the official statement from Buckingham Palace, while saying that they were ‘pleased’ that the Duke of Sussex would
Two thousand among the great and the good from around the world will soon receive a letter from King Charles III and Queen Camilla. The invitation to the coronation on 6 May, which has been unveiled today, is not what people might have expected. Elizabeth II’s coronation invitation was formal, and, even by the standards
You’ll know where you are with Ted Lasso – the third season of which has just started on Apple TV – as soon as you hear the Marcus Mumford co-written theme song. It peddles a sort of sub-Coldplay uplift, with a lot of big, meaningless anthemic ‘yeah’s in the chorus. Bright, accessible, catchy and instantly forgettable, you
In January 1559 an Italian envoy wrote of Elizabeth I’s coronation that ‘they are preparing for [the ceremony] and work both day and night’. More than four and a half centuries later much the same could be said of the imminent investiture of Charles III – an event overshadowed, at the time of writing, by
In our risk-averse, deeply fearful age, the idea of one of the most popular shows on any streaming service being a black comedy about a serial killer who has an unfortunate penchant for murdering the women he falls in love with might be something of a tough sell. But the bloody exploits of Joe Goldberg,
What are Prince Harry’s pronouns? The obvious ones, of course, are ‘he/him’, but the mischievous might suggest that ‘heir/spare’ are just as likely. In either case, the Duke of Sussex has struck most of the world as a man who is in touch – if perhaps not through his own volition – with contemporary gender
40 min listen
On the podcast: The Spectator’s economics editor Kate Andrews looks back on a week of economic turbulence and asks whether we should be worried, for her cover piece in the magazine. She is joined by the economist – and former ‘Trussketeer’ – Julian Jessop, to discuss whether we are entering a new era of economic uncertainty
For all of Harry and Meghan’s near-constant talk about needing their privacy, it is an unfortunate running theme that their every single action seems designed to elicit both headline inches and discussion as to what they’re going to do next. It also appears, alas, that their entire family are fair game for this kind of
Will they or won’t they? I’m talking, of course, about whether or not Harry and Meghan will attend the King’s coronation in May. A statement from the couple suggests that, despite reports to the contrary, the couple have been invited: ‘I can confirm the Duke has recently received email correspondence from His Majesty’s office regarding
In the eighteenth century, the well-to-do and prurient enjoyed visiting London’s most notorious hospital, Bedlam, to gaze at its patients. Today, we have replaced this unwholesome activity with a live-streamed therapy session between Prince Harry and the so-called ‘trauma expert’ Gabor Maté, the Canadian author of The Myth of Normal. Maté is both an acknowledged
When Prince Harry appeared on the Stephen Colbert show earlier this week, he deviated from his usual pained ‘my family have wronged me’ routine and attempted to strike a lighter note. He told the no doubt surprised host that his favourite smell was Meghan Markle, expressed a penchant for cheese and ham toasties with Dijon
With the coronation a mere two months away, the ‘will they, won’t they’ speculation about the presence of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex at the ceremony has taken on a new twist. If they come to London, they will not have anywhere to stay: officially, at least. It has been revealed that Frogmore Cottage,
In 1969, Henry Beard and Douglas Kenney, future founders of National Lampoon, published a satirical takedown of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, entitled Bored of the Rings. It holds up remarkably well today as a closely observed parody of Tolkien’s more windy stylistic tics. One critic, David Bratman, remarked: ‘Those parodists wrought better than they knew. I think it
Is it wise for King Charles to get dragged into the Brexit deal row? European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen is in Windsor today to sign off on an agreement over post-Brexit trade arrangements for Northern Ireland. Afterwards, von der Leyen will meet the King for tea at Windsor Castle. Such a meeting – at
‘As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a TikTok sensation.’ This is not – blessedly – how Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis begins. But almost exactly a century after his death, the Bohemian writer would be astonished to find that not only had his friend and literary executor
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are hardly averse to taking matters to court. From their privacy tussles with the Mail on Sunday to the recent revelation that the taxpayer has forked out £300,000 over Prince Harry’s High Court challenge to the Home Office about his security arrangements when visiting the UK (he wanted to
