• Marching well on parade doesn’t prove you will fight well, but it’s a good start. The Brits march very well.
• The Brits believe you can be born to leadership. We believe you must achieve it. Based on the current situation, one could argue which method works better.
• We can wish that Queen Elizabeth II had abdicated in favor of Charles years ago, so he could have come to the throne while still vigorous. Then again, she might have known what she was doing.
• Charles looks impressive in a Savile Row suit or a uniform, but in a white robe he looks like a frail, elderly hospital patient.
• Charles is said to be 5 feet 10 inches tall but looks much shorter, especially when flanked by two very tall churchmen. Shorter ones should have been chosen.
• Westminster Abbey is beautiful, but they went too far scrubbing off centuries of grime. A bit should have been left in the crevices out of respect.
• The religious ceremony, and the archbishop crowning the king, tell us that God rules above the state, a message that tyrants hate and that we need to be reminded of.
• We can’t help thinking that it should have been Diana next to Charles. On second thought, maybe not. She would have had to live all those years in a loveless marriage, only to be queen for the few years Charles has left. Dying young is always tragic, but there can be an upside as well.
• Traditions are important. They inspire us to carry on and do what is right when it is easier, or safer, to quit. When we delete our traditions, we risk deleting everything worthwhile. Think twice before hitting the Delete key. The most valuable things cannot be recovered from the cloud. They exist in reality or not at all.