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Dec 23, 2023

It’s Coronation Day

Advertisement Newsletter Come for the crown jewels and gold stagecoach; stay for the questions about the monarchy’s relevance. By Melissa Kirsch On the “how interested are you in the royal family?”

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Come for the crown jewels and gold stagecoach; stay for the questions about the monarchy’s relevance.

By Melissa Kirsch

On the “how interested are you in the royal family?” spectrum, which runs from antipathy to adoration, I’m in the mildly curious range: I know who the major players are; I watched the Harry and Meghan documentary but not “The Crown.” I cannot help but feel some affinity with a person (Queen Elizabeth II) who allegedly invented an indisputably adorable dog breed (the dorgi, a cross between a dachshund and a Welsh corgi).

But as with a sports playoff game or Hollywood awards ceremony, the coronation of Charles III has made me into an instant, if temporary, royals superfan. I can’t resist a spectacle — never mind one code-named Operation Golden Orb — resplendent with props like the Stone of Destiny, holy olive oil, a gold coach and a scepter containing the largest colorless cut diamond in the world. But as with all fandom, fair-weather and otherwise, allegiance is complicated.

In a recent poll of 3,070 adults in Britain, 64 percent of respondents said they had little to no interest in today’s coronation. The ceremony has been modified to be more inclusive, but still “the hoary rituals of the coronation are a reminder of how — in a secular, multiethnic, digital-age society — the crown is fundamentally an anachronism,” wrote The Times’s London bureau chief, Mark Landler.

An over-the-top coronation for a new king does make for an incongruous viewing experience while Commonwealth nations call for Britain to redress its colonialist legacy and the country reckons with a cost-of-living crisis. The dissonance is for the best, I think. It’s possible to be fascinated by the pageantry while remaining skeptical of it, to gawk at the fairy-tale elements of the coronation while still questioning the system that supports them.

I talked to Sarah Lyall, a writer-at-large for The Times who is covering the coronation, about how hard it is for an American who isn’t a regular royal watcher to truly understand how the monarchy functions in the U.K. One of its roles, she said, is to exist outside of politics and provide continuity when the government is in disarray. As Britain went through four prime ministers in the past three years, the monarchy endured. “It’s a soap opera,” she said, “but it’s also like a sort of scaffolding in some odd way for the entire system.”

Speaking of scaffolding, in order to accommodate the more than 8,000 guests that attended Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation in 1953, special grandstands were built in Westminster Abbey. This required so much scaffolding that a railway track was built in the church to transport it all. Charles’s coronation, by contrast, will be a more intimate affair, with about 2,200 people invited.

Watch the coronation and follow The Times’s live coverage.

All your questions about the coronation, answered in our F.A.Q.

“Can Britain’s first green-minded monarch persuade a nation that loves Sunday roast, chips and chicken tikka masala to embrace the locally grown, organic, climate-friendly diet that he follows?,” The Times’s Kim Severson asks.

The coronation is a TV spectacle for the digital age.

Why does Britain still have a monarchy? Sarah Lyall consulted its subjects.

Camilla’s transformation on the way to becoming queen.

Celebrities arrived at the Met Gala in pearls, corsets and cat costumes. See the most over-the-top looks from the gala and its after-parties.

An accompanying show honoring Karl Lagerfeld opened at The Met this week. It’s coy about his controversies, The Times’s Vanessa Friedman writes.

A Hollywood writers’ strike could last for months, halting production on many shows.

Drew Barrymore dropped out of hosting tomorrow’s MTV Movie & TV Awards to support the writers’ strike.

Ed Sheeran was found not liable for copying Marvin Gaye’s 1973 classic, “Let’s Get It On.” Here are takeaways from the copyright case.

Missy Elliott, Willie Nelson and Rage Against the Machine were among the artists voted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

A documentary by the artist David Hammons explores what it means when white people try to own something Black, The Times’s Wesley Morris writes.

A TV adaptation of the novel “City on Fire” cultivates nostalgia for the more analog 2000s in New York.

People in Los Angeles are still memorializing a mountain lion, P-22, with T-shirts and a show commissioned by the philharmonic.

Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, will step down next month.

The World Health Organization ended its emergency declaration for the pandemic, a symbolic gesture.

The leader of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group threatened to pull his fighters out of the embattled Ukrainian city of Bakhmut.

The man who choked a homeless man to death on a New York City subway was identified as Daniel Penny, a 24-year-old Marine Corps veteran. He has not been charged.

Two students formed an impromptu taxi service and rescued dozens of people from a battle zone in Sudan.

Some Americans live in “sacrifice zones” — areas close to chemical plants that put them at higher risk of developing cancer.

By Gilbert Cruz

🎬 “Air” (Friday): In her review of this Ben Affleck-directed film about Nike’s attempt in the 1980s to sign Michael Jordan to the most mega of sneaker contracts, Manohla Dargis wrote, “It’s ridiculous how entertaining ‘Air’ is given that it’s about shoes.’” The film, also starring Matt Damon and Viola Davis, will be available to stream on Prime Video.

🎮 “The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom” (Friday): It’s been six years since “Breath of the Wild” was released for the Nintendo Switch. That beautiful open world game entered my household during the early days of the pandemic and not a week has gone by in which we don’t talk about it. The highly anticipated sequel is out next weekend, and I don’t plan on doing anything but playing it.

By Melissa Clark

Asparagus season is approaching its peak, meaning now is the time to revel in dishes that highlight its grassy-in-a-good-way flavor. Kay Chun’s roasted salmon with asparagus, and lemon does just that, and it couldn’t be easier to prepare. While the salmon roasts, you make the simple pan sauce of lemony brown butter with crisp-juicy peas and thinly sliced asparagus. Capers add a salty tang and parsley (or tarragon, if you prefer), some herbal freshness. Serve this dish, vivid in shades of pink and green, on your prettiest platter for a festive, springtime meal that you can make in 15 minutes flat.

An inverted ha-ha: It’s an odd name for a raised mound of earth around a property.

Trendy gray floors: A hatred for the color is thriving on social media.

Tiny homes: A program builds small houses in Seattle backyards to address homelessness.

What you get for $625,000: A four-bedroom bungalow in Minneapolis; a one-bedroom condominium in an 1877 mansion in Newport, R.I.; or a brick townhouse in Louisville, Ky.

The hunt: They wanted a house in the Hudson Valley for $500,000. Which one did they choose? Play our game.

K9 Jets: Flying with a dog or cat is getting harder. So people are chartering planes for their pets.

Ovulation pain: Researchers aren’t sure why it can hurt.

King Cobra and Enrique Chagoya: What to see in New York galleries this month.

Northern Lights: You can see them further south for the next few years.

With pleasant spring weather comes an unpleasant garden nemesis: weeds. As a relatively new gardener, I have been exploring ways to naturally tackle weeds, and I’ve found the quickest and most efficient to be this $28 garden tool, a stirrup hoe. Think of it like a vegetable peeler for your garden beds. Its trapezoidal steel blade-head slightly oscillates back and forth — a simple push or pull slices the top layer of soil, severing a weed from its roots. It’s as easy as it is satisfying to use. And it’s cut my weeding time in half, giving me more hours to enjoy the spring. — Sebastian Compagnucci

Miami Grand Prix: Formula 1 has been expanding its footprint in the U.S. since the Netflix series “Drive to Survive” brought a new audience to the sport. This year, three races are in the U.S. — the most in decades — as well as a new American driver, Logan Sargeant. Unfortunately for Sargent, he does not drive for Red Bull, which means he probably won’t win. Red Bull’s two drivers have won every race this year. But even a Top 10 finish, which would earn Sargent his first points of the season, would be reason to celebrate. 3:30 p.m. Eastern tomorrow on ABC.

Related: Nearly every weekend, Formula 1 workers pack up their entire sport and send it to the another country. Here’s how the logistical symphony comes together.

The pangram from yesterday’s Spelling Bee was condominium. Here is today’s puzzle.

See the hardest Spelling Bee words from this week.

Take the news quiz to see how well you followed this week’s headlines.

And here are today’s Mini Crossword, Wordle, Sudoku and Tiles.

Thanks for spending part of your weekend with The Times. — Melissa

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Melissa Kirsch is the deputy editor of Culture and Lifestyle at TheTimes and writes The Morning newsletter on Saturdays. More about Melissa Kirsch

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