An anglicised Irishman's view of King Charles III's coronation

I'm not anti-monarchy, but I am the product of an Irish family. My forefathers saw the British royal family as representing an occupying power. Despite having spent almost all of my life in England, I'm not British. I was born in Ireland, still have an Irish passport, and will die an Irishman.

Despite my heritage, my view of the UK royal family is mixed. I don't pay a huge amount of attention to them, because they don't really affect my day-to-day life. I've nothing against them personally, but I wish they were a bit more personable and relevant to today's society. The UK royal family are an anomaly. Something moulded out of thousands of years of tradition and patronage.

That's all fine, but it is not a representation of my life or those around me. Their world is one of privilege. From the moment they are born, their destiny is determined. Whether they like it or not, their journey through life is set. I feel for them, as they must occasionally just want to say, "No. I want to have a normal life thank you very much."

I remember Ian Hislop the Editor of Private Eye, saying of Prince William, that his "job" until he became King was to be as boring as possible." Something he said he was pretty good at. At least Prince William won't have to be boring for as long as his Dad. A conversation between King Charles and someone queuing to pay their respects in the long queue to pass by his Mother's coffin went...

Q: Have you been waiting long?

A: Not as long as you your Majesty.

I'll be doing my best not to watch the coronation. I say "my best" because it has been wall to wall media coverage this last week. Even the disastrous election results suffered by the Tory's yesterday are hardly being mentioned. I hope that changes once normality resumes. So the TV will remain switched off until the news later when I may watch the edited highlights. That's about as much as I can stand.

I've thought long and hard about why I'm so ambivalent about such events, and have come to the following conclusions:

• I'm not a massive fan of Charles. This has nothing to do with Diana. It's just that I find him to be a bit of a relic from the past. He's tried hard to show his interests, but having a father like his, and having the dress sense of an Edwardian gentleman do him no favours. Even the way he speaks makes me cringe. Who in their right mind would want to be his PR guru?
  
  
• My background is certainly a factor. My family were of a Republican bent, and some fought the British in the early part of the 20th century. Others were part of the early Irish government and Garda Síochána, the Irish police force. Others fought alongside their British compatriates against Hitler, and some paid a heavy price. This certainly gives me a nuanced and more balanced view of the British establishment.
  
  
• As someone with a balanced view of most things, I ask if there is a need for such events. There is no legal necessity for the coronation. It is just tradition and pure theatre. I do wonder if the money our Monarchy and Government have plundered on these few days could have been better spent.
  
  
• The mainstream media's sycophantic coverage is the worst of the lot. In these days of 24 hour rolling news broadcasts, the role of the TV anchor is to project manage the filling of time. The reporter's job is to find any angle no matter how tenuous, and ask the most ridiculous and boring questions. It must be a tough gig. The screengrab accompanying this post illustrates everything that's wrong with the media's coverage of such events.
  
  
• Finally, and by no means least, I just don't have time to be glued to a TV screen for hours on end. Life goes on whether there's a coronation or not. I've got stuff to do that I see as more important.

So that's why I'm here writing this, rather than watching a privileged old man get a crown, made of jewels mostly plundered from some part of this country's colonial empire, look very uncomfortable as it is placed on his head. I won't be won't be swearing allegiance to the King as part of the ceremony. It's a misguided addition to the proceedings.

I wish King Charles all the best for his reign. I hope he manages to navigate his ceremonial duties whilst achieving a degree of modernisation. I applaud his work with different faith groups. The UK is a very different and diverse nation compared to the one his Mother inherited in 1952.

Being King, or heir to the throne, is not a job I'd ever want. Give me my life any day. Would I go as far as becoming a republic? No. I think the Monarchy has a place in UK society, just not as it currently exists. A more slimmed-down and approachable version would be my preference.