As any fule kno, Westminster wasn’t the scene of coronation until at least William the Conqueror after 1066 and all that. As a resident of Kingston-upon-Thames, I find it amusingly indicative of England’s underpowered sense of nationalism when passing the historic coronation stone of its first kings.
This solid block of sarsen stone – which since 1935 has lain outside the Kingston RLBC’s glorious art deco guildhall – is said to have heralded the crowning of nine Anglo Saxon kings from Edward the Elder to Ethelred the Unready. Among those more likely to have been crowned number Alfred the Great’s grandson, Athelstan. Athelstan, significantly, was the first king of England, star of the final episode of Netflix’s ‘The Last Kingdom’ and the top-rated monarch in cult podcast ‘The Rest is History’ for his achievement in establishing England as a unitary state.
The block, guarded by fierce midges from the nearby Hogsmill river, is further protected within railings that were only recently improved for last year’s platinum jubilee. Before then it had been unearthed from the wreck of a nearby church in the 18th century before lying abandoned, neglected in Kingston’s historic marketplace. The contested Scottish stone of destiny, which has consecrated all British monarchs, this certainly ain’t. But what does this nonchalant take on contemporary Anglo-Saxon attitudes have to say to the opening chords of King Charles III’s reign?
Well firstly, don’t underestimate the power of the union as a national binding force. Charles is a proud sovereign of a multi-faith and diverse United Kingdom, and will be as keen to preserve his inheritance as his mother before him. With the Scottish Nationalist Party in a tailspin since Nicola Sturgeon's resignation, the pressure for another independence referendum has collapsed. It must also be remembered that the king has served half a century’s apprenticeship as Prince of Wales, giving him deep insight into the other realm.
Don’t forget that as constituted the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities is tasked with intergovernmental relations and supporting the union and this is a key agenda for the Sunak administration. With the recent local election results suggesting a potential future Labour government, the prospect of a clash in wills between crown and parliament in seeking to implement Gordon Brown’s clunky fisted constitutional reforms, House of Lords reform and all, remains to be seen.
But certainly, and with a host of Commonwealth countries likely to convert to republics and replace him as head of state, King Charles will want the Windsors to continue to be monarchs of a truly United Kingdom and not be reduced to England and Wales, a vestigial rump RUK harking back to the Tudor era.
But what sort of a relationship should our localities and place leaders have with King Charles III? According to his biographer, Jonathan Dimbleby, Charles’s golden vision for the nation is that of a ‘community of communities’ in which harmony in diversity reigns triumphant. And it is for this reason that King Charles should be viewed as a genuine champion of localism and as a man of wisdom who has constantly preached a civic gospel of duty to place and community.
Views about the desirability of an unelected head of state may and do vary. However it should be suggested to even the most ardent republicans that in King Charles III, we are fortunate to have a supremely well-prepared constitutional monarch with a deep, wide and abiding concern, knowledge and interest for all four corners of their realm. A monarch who has at time courted unpopularity to not just understand, but widely share why a sense of place matters.
His environmentally and socially focused charitable works and at times outspoken public pronouncements have addressed his ideal of the harmonious balance of beauty in architecture and landscape, of strength in community bonds and the realisation of young people’s potential. And we can judge him by his works, whether the Poundbury estate in Dorset for cohesive placemaking, his support for the regeneration of industrial heritage sites or the lives of those whose lives have been put back on track through pathways to skills and opportunities since.
In Shakespeare’s words, ‘there is a divinity doth hedge a king’. Localists would be advised not to simply seek the umbrella protection of King Charles as a figure of national unity above the political fray and avowed champion of place and community. For while there won’t be an abundance of personal opportunities to engage with the king personally, where and when they emerge, champions of place and community should also seize whatever chances are offered - and see what can be achieved for people and locality by following the grain of his sovereign vision.
Jonathan Werran is chief executive, Localis
@Localis
