Millions round the world watched the crowning of King Charles, but the critics ... trends now
Twelve months on from the spectacle of the Coronation, most of us remember a magnificent ceremony and a piece of history to remain with us down the decades.
Most of us, but not everyone.
For a small handful of royal insiders and liturgical specialists continue to look back on the occasion - watched by a peak UK audience of 20 million people - with more dismay than joy.
In palace corridors, cathedral vestries and parliamentary ante-rooms, some still whisper that the crowning of King Charles III and Queen Camillawas a 'Cut-Price Coronation' with splendour, ceremony and tradition sacrificed on the twin altars of cost and 'accessiblity'.
Certainly, the May 6 crowning of King Charles was a good 60 minutes shorter than his mother's three-hour ceremony in 1952, but this is the age of television, after all.
And safety considerations meant that the numbers in Westminster Abbey were drastically reduced, from 8,000 to 2,000.
So what else could have got these sticklers for correct form so hot under their coronets?
Where were the missing tiaras?
Yes, the Crown Jewels were brought out of the Tower and the King duly received the orb, the sceptre, the 17th century St Edward’s Crown and the lighter Imperial State Crown.
But if there was plenty of bling on the altar, there was a disappointing shortage in the nave and transcepts.
Where were all the tiaras?
Catherine, the Princess of Wales, chose not to wear a royal tiara but a beautiful bespoke headpiece instead. Her daughter, Princess Charlotte, wore a complementary band
Tiaras were on lavish display at the Coronation of George VI in 1937. From the left, Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent wearing the Kent City of London Fringe tiara, Princess Allice, Duchess of Gloucester, Queen Maud of Norway, Queen Mary, Princess Elizabeth, Princess Margaret and Mary, Princess Royal, sister of the new King and aunt to Elizabeth II
This should have been a glittering occasion, but with the King encouraging a more democratic approach than in the past, there were all too few tiaras on view – not even on the head of the elegant Princess of Wales
She chose a bespoke floral headpiece by Jess Collett, with a matching one for her daughter, Princess Charlotte.
The controversial Koh-i-noor diamond went missing, too. The 105 carat jewel from India once held pride of place in the crown of Queen Elizabeth, later the Queen Mother.
But with India demanding the return of the huge gem - which had been given to Queen Victoria - Camilla diplomatically chose to wear a completely different crown for the Coronation, one worn by the King’s great-grandmother, Queen Mary.
A 'garden party' in the Abbey
In keeping with the modern mood, guests were that the dress code was daywear – another move which irritated the purists.
Singer Katy Perry wears Vivienne Westwood for the Coronation rather than an evening gown - in keeping with the request that the occasion be less formal than in the past. Here, she takes a selfie in the Abbey
Coronations, surely, should be sumptuous even by the standards of royal occasions.
Women at past coronations wore evening gowns decorated with beading, pearls and even jewels.
Yet many female guests on May 6 were were dressed as if for a garden party.
Banished barons
With health and safety regulations cutting the coronation congregation from 8,000 in 1953, when Elizabeth II was crowned, to 2,000 for Charles III, the guest list was very much reduced.
Prince Henry, 1st Duke of Gloucester amongst an array of coronets during the coronation of King George VI Coronation in 1937.
The main victims were the nobility.
The 1953 ceremony, and that for George VI in 1937, involved oceans of peers. But not last May, when a mere handful of their noble lords and ladies were selected by ballot to attend.
A few more were given a special vantage point outside the Abbey.
The rest of the hereditaries were reduced to watching the proceedings on telly
Lords in lounge
