Saturday 6th May is the coronation of King Charles III. Given the great span of the late Queen Elizabeth’s reign, most of us have never seen a coronation service before. This ancient service filled with over a thousand years of tradition is brand new to many who will be watching around the country and around the world.
At the heart of the coronation service is the oath that King Charles will make as he is formally crowned and enthroned as the King of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and all its realms and territories. As part of the coronation service, homage is paid to the King after he has been enthroned. This homage will be made three times. First, the homage of the Church of England, led by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby. Second, the homage of Royal Blood led by The Prince of Wales. Third, the homage of the people, made by any person in Westminster Abbey or elsewhere who so wishes to do.
This third act of homage is new for this coronation. ‘It replaces the traditional ‘homage of peers’ where hereditary peers swear allegiance to the new monarch.’[1] The Archbishop of Canterbury will say to the people: ‘I call upon all persons of goodwill of The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and of the other Realms and the Territories to make their homage, in heart and voice, to their undoubted King, defender of all.’ A note in the order of service then instructs ‘All who so desire, in the Abbey, and elsewhere, say together:
‘I swear that I will pay true allegiance to Your Majesty, and to your heirs and successors according to law. So help me God.’
In this homage people are invited to swear an oath of allegiance to King Charles and his successors according to law. It is a promise to remain loyal to the King and give him one’s full support in all things so long as they do not break the law. People are not required to make the oath if they do not wish to swear it. People are invited to swear the oath only if they so wish and are not penalised in any way for declining the invitation.
This homage of the people has created a great stir among many who feel uncomfortable with swearing an oath of allegiance to King Charles. Many have criticised the inclusion of this new homage and voiced their opposition to it. The ‘Campaign group Republic called the idea “nonsense” and “offensive.”’[2]
To me, it seems quite strange that a voluntary oath, which people are free to say or not say as they choose, has caused so much opposition. Surely if people disagree with it, they will choose to not say it, and those whom wish to say it can happily continue with their homage to the King. Personally, I am very excited to pay homage to King Charles and swear my oath of allegiance to him. My name is Shakeel Nurmahi, I’m 27 years old and I am a priest in the Church of England. As part of my training to become a priest, I completed a Masters’ degree at the University of Durham with my thesis looking at what it meant for clergy to swear the oath of allegiance. I focused my research on the impact of the oath for South Asian clergy, which was directly relevant to me as the child of Indian immigrants to the UK. As a result, I have a keen interest in oaths of allegiance to the King and this act of homage.
I recognise that part of the reason I feel comfortable with swearing allegiance to King Charles is because I already did so when I became a clergyperson, swearing an oath to the Late Queen and her heirs and successors, which included King Charles. But I believe there are legitimate and good reasons for any British citizen to swear this oath of allegiance to the King. I hope to explain some of these reasons to you (though in the interest of time, I will not discuss every possible reason).
The first reason that I think there is good reason to pay homage to King Charles is because we have already done so by being a British citizen. Have you ever spoken to someone who has become a British citizen later in life having been a citizen of somewhere else? Did they mention to you that at their citizenship ceremony they had to swear an oath of allegiance to the monarch and their heirs and successors? This signals to me that bearing allegiance to the King or Queen is a pre-requisite to being British. If you were born a British citizen, then you were most likely not required to make this oath (unless you serve in a public office), which suggest to me that is because you had already signed up to it as default as a British citizen. Each British person’s citizenship carries with it this unsaid understanding that to be a British citizen is to be faithful to the monarch, and also the monarchs to come. Therefore, to pay homage to King Charles at the coronation is merely affirming what we already do by default as British citizens.
I do recognise that this argument I have made so far consists of saying ‘tough, you already have, so get on with it.’ But I do believe there is more reason that this to pay homage to the King. I don’t know how many of you have been following the build up to the coronation this weekend, but did you know that the theme of the coronation service is ‘called to serve.’ At the centre of the coronation service is this focus on Charles’ calling to serve as King. As we, the people, promise to be faithful to our King, Charles, he will be making promises in his coronation oath to be faithfully serve us, the people of Great Britain. The coronation reminds us that service is at the heart of what it means to be human. As people, as children, as parents, as friends, as workers, as members of a community we are called to serve one another. It is through serving one another that we bring good to those around us and across the world. So, as we question whether it is fair today to promise to be a faithful servant of a King, remember that Charles promises to be a servant to all of us. The promises are mutual, and one could argue that the King’s promises are far greater. You could say, ‘how is it fair that he has so much wealth, prestige and power by accident of birth?’ I ask, ‘how is it fair that one person have the weight of nation as their responsibility by accident of their birth?’ We could go back and forth around this, and there many nuances I am skipping over with my generalisation and rhetoric. However, I do believe that a call to serve is at the heart of the coronation, and so I glad will respond to my call to serve Charles as my King as he boldly offers to serve me as my King.
My third and final reason I would like to present why I think it is good to pay homage to Charles as King is because I believe it is a way of honour what God is doing. I recognise that for those of you reading this who are non-religious, this might feel like a moot point, but please hear me out. I remember watching Netflix’s depiction of Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation, and in it the Archbishop of Canterbury, Geoffrey Fisher, talks through the coronation service. He says there is a reason that the coronation is not in a civic building but in a church (and has done so since the Norman Conquest in 1066), and that is because the coronation is an act of worship to God and before God. If you look at coronation service for King Charles, you see that it is a Christian service of worship. And this is coronation is not unique in this. All the coronations in English history have been followed this pattern of Christian worship, having been in West. For over a thousand years the English and British monarchs have been enthroned before God as his servant. The whole service is built around the themes of the coronation of King Solomon over three thousand years ago when Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anointed Solomon and proclaimed him as King (hence Handel’s famous coronation anthem). They did this before God and looking to God as the source of Solomon’s power and authority. This dynamic is at the heart of our monarch in this country. When Charles is crowned King, he will be anointed in the same way as King Solomon as the Archbishop of Canterbury signs Charles’ hands, chest and head with holy oil. I am not necessarily advocating along the lines of the divine right of kings, but I do believe that God is at the heart of the coronation service. The promises the King makes are not only to the people but also to God and before God. The whole service is built around God being the source of the King’s power and authority. But why does this make swearing allegiance to King Charles a good thing?
When I swear my oath of allegiance to King Charles, I believe that I am honouring what God is doing in the coronation. At the coronation we are looking to God as the source of King Charles’ authority and power. We are turning to God and asking him to be at work in our King and we recognise that as the King, Charles is above all, a person under God. When I pay homage to King Charles, I come alongside him as another human being who has God as ultimate King above them who deserves our homage. When I pay homage to King Charles, I pay homage to God and what God is doing in and through the King. My homage concludes with the words ‘so help me God,’ signifying my recognition that I say all of this before God as the Lord and King I am ultimately under. This makes me excited to pay homage to King Charles because, for me, it feels like I am looking to God above and celebrating him as the King of Kings. It is my prayer for God to be present in my life, my community and my nation. If through my swearing allegiance to the King I find myself looking more to God at work, then I consider it a very good thing indeed.
I hope you have found my thoughts helpful at this time of the coronation.
God save the King. God save King Charles. Long live King Charles. May The King live for ever.
[1] ‘Coronation: No Drama over Swearing Allegiance, Says Archbishop’, BBC News, 2 May 2023, sec. UK, https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-65458470 [Accessed 5th May 2023].
[2] https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews, ‘Coronation: Idea of Paying Homage Abhorrent to King – Dimbleby’, BBC News, 5 May 2023, https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-65493188 [Accessed 5th May 2023].
Shakeel Nurmahi 