Coronation of King Charles: In the Herald’s Reporting

We spent some time this week discussing how much attention we should give to two major events: the coronation of King Charles III. on Saturday and the federal budget next Tuesday. Both are significant occasions, although in contrast to the annual political spectacle of delivering our national accounts, the coronation of a monarch is a rare occurrence.

Tomorrow evening Australian time the Archbishop of Canterbury King Charles III. carefully put on the St. Edward’s Crown in Westminster Abbey.

This is a big moment for Britain, Australia and many other places around the world. But I think it is appropriate to look at how the role of royalty, its importance and its popularity have evolved since the last coronation of a British monarch, the coronation of Queen Elizabeth in 1953. Back then Australia was a much more ‘colonial’ nation, we were less multicultural and more reliant on imperialism.

Australia as a nation is in a very different space today and the importance of the royal family has diminished. In fairness, even the House of Windsor seems to recognize this, limiting both the length and extravagance of tomorrow’s spectacle. If you want all the details on what’s about to happen and when things will unfold, read this fun preview.

So how much coverage should the herald give this event? This is the tricky question our leadership team discussed leading up to this weekend’s ceremony. While we will always have one or two people telling us to ignore it completely, realistically that will never happen. More interesting is the question of how much attention we pay to it. Let’s put all our editorial resources into it, like them herald would it have done in the past to temporarily put aside our coverage of other important national events? For many Australians, the royal family holds an important emotional place in their lives and embodies the values ​​of history, service and continuity. For others, it’s a colonial anachronism that’s losing relevance.

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Given all of this, we’ll try to strike a balance between keeping you informed, entertained and hopefully a little surprised and challenged by what happened over the weekend. But we won’t overdo it with sycophantic, blanket reporting.

The ceremony will be streamed live online via our coronation blog, hosted by London-based Latika Bourke, who brings a unique style and energy to this type of coverage. Europe correspondent Rob Harris, who wrote so eloquently on the death and funeral of Queen Elizabeth last year, will lead our news and analysis, assisted by culture writer Michael Idato. We’ll also be keeping an eye on fashion, how Prince Harry is being treated and what’s happening here in Sydney. The herald is fortunate to have some of the best writers in the industry to bring you all the fascinating details of this historic event and how it is being received in Australia, the UK and around the world.

On a slightly less grandiose scale, but of far more significance to your fanny pack, next Tuesday brings the second budget for the Albanian government back to its traditional timing of the second Tuesday in May. With the economy teetering on the brink of recession, worries about the cost of living on most people’s minds, and the thorny issue of house prices surfacing, this budget will be a critical focus for our economic future.