Roger Watson
Apparently it is not compulsory to swear the oath of allegiance that the public have been invited to swear out loud at the Coronation of King Charles III this weekend. That is very nice to hear as I had no intention of doing so. I may utter a few oaths, but they will not be of allegiance to King Charles.
We have been invited to swear the oath of allegiance which will be followed by a blast on the tooteroos and then we can say ‘May the King live forever.’ The way our raspberry cheeked, oedematous fingered monarch looks, we should maybe be proclaiming ‘May he make it through the Coronation service.’ I’m no doctor but, with the way he looks these days I’d say he has some serious cardiorespiratory condition of which the public are being kept in ignorance.
Is it ‘long Covid’, did he get the real Covid-19 vaccine in error as opposed to distilled water? We’ll never know but his physical appearance lately and general tetchiness suggest that all is not well. Perhaps he is poisoning himself slowly to avoid another night between the sheets with the appalling Queen Consort? Perhaps she is poisoning him with a view to another younger man in the royal household? Harry ought to be single soon and, according to his autobiography, is no stranger to a roll in the hay with an older woman.
Ridiculous speculation but no more so than the ridiculous suggestion that we interrupt our viewing of the final matches in the Champions League to stand up and utter something that, for the ordinary citizen, has absolutely no relevance or meaning even if, like me, they remain a monarchist.
There are so many reasons we should not be swearing an oath of allegiance to King Charles not the least of which are that he is an appalling person. He is an adulterer for starters. Then, if you read Norman Baker’s And what do you do? he is as greedy and entitled a member of the royal household as any of them with his demands for helicopters for relatively short journeys, private jets and free luxury holidays. His son and heir, according to the same source, has acquired these habits. Then there is his political meddling and espousing of green politics with which he has infected said son and heir with a hefty dose.
While promising to cut back on royal expenditure he is at the centre of an ultra ‘inclusive’ NHS worshipping coronation shindig estimated to cost a minimum £100 million. Not exactly off to a flying start on the cutting back project. But not to worry, we are all tightening our belts out here in the real world so that should free up resources. It’s a good job Joe Biden is not coming or that might have set us back another few million. Perhaps there is not enough room on London’s roads for two massive cavalcades given that Rishi Sunak has decided that this is how he wants to be transported about the capital.
The dreadful nature of our future king could occupy several pages but, in fact, it is not the whole point. Ordinary citizens are not required—either by invitation or compulsion—to swear allegiance to the monarch. I have sworn an oath of allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth in my former capacity as an army officer and, if 67-year olds are called up to bear arms, I would do so again to King Charles. But this would be in a specific constitutional capacity, mine as a commissioned officer and his as head of the armed forces. It is not a personal oath.
Ordinary citizens in the UK cannot be expected to swear an oath to the monarch as many of them, as is their right, do not recognise royalty and would prefer a republic. The purpose in making military officers, police and politicians swear allegiance is that they are required to recognise the constitutional position of the monarch and act accordingly, regardless of their personal beliefs.
Of course, as pointed out, this is merely an invitation to swear an oath, but it is, nevertheless, ridiculous. Why invite people to participate in something that is meaningless? Surely, the invitation to swear an oath of allegiance, which purports to come from Lambeth Palace, cannot have been issued without Charles’ permission. After all, Charles is now the head of the Church of England. In my view this indicates nothing but insecurity on his behalf. Of course, the BBC will show footage of people swearing along at street parties and Charles will be able to tell Camilla: “Look, they’re all swearing allegiance…TO ME.” It’s enough to make me go full republican!
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Roger Watson is a retired academic nurse who lives in the UK.
He is currently engaged in a range of professional consultancies in the UK, Europe and China. He writes regularly for several outlets including The Daily Sceptic, The European Conservative, Country Squire Magazine and The New Conservative.
