Coronation: What sort of King will Charles really be?

I was visiting a mid-Norfolk primary school when a young boy asked me if I had actually met the King? It is a frequently asked question, to be fair. When I replied that I had indeed, several times, been privileged enough to meet the King, instead of asking me excitedly, what is he like? - as most children do - he asked another question, one far more profound.

"Will he be a good King then?"

I told the boy I thought His Majesty King Charles III would be an excellent King and as a nation we are incredibly fortunate to have him and Queen Camilla to lead us. "I think he is quite cool too," the youngster remarked. High praise indeed from a seven-year-old

As the day of the Coronation draws closer, we are hearing quite a bit from anti-monarchists. Polls are apparently showing a decline of interest in the monarchy and questions are being asked about its value and relevance to national life today. 

On one level I get that. Times are unbelievably harsh for very many people due to the spiralling cost of living crisis. After the magnificent Platinum Jubilee celebrations last year, and the funeral of HM Queen Elizabeth following so quickly on, the country is in part exhausted. 

There are very real fears about impending climate disaster, indeed the future of our planet itself. For many, the outlook looks bleak indeed. The level of acute anxiety among our young people today cannot be underestimated. We ignore this at our peril.

Arguably, now more than ever, the country needs the stability and the continuity a monarchy can provide. And how incredibly fortunate are we to have within our King a man that understands all these issues, has lived experience of them, and of so many others besides.

A king who at times endured a lonely and difficult childhood, bullied at school, often mocked by those who misunderstood his gentle and sensitive nature. 

We have in King Charles a man who has experienced first-hand the trauma of a high profile breakdown of his marriage - and the subsequent, very public, divorce. 

One who knows first-hand the difficulties of raising two boys through their teenage years; the perils of an integration of families (I refuse to use that word blended, as if a smoothie, which most ‘blended’ families are definitely not.)  We have in him one who has known deep loss and personal tragedy, including in 1979, the murder of Lord Mountbatten, his beloved uncle and mentor.

Furthermore, we have a kind and humorous man, a man who instinctively reaches out and does the right thing. Some years ago, I saw first-hand in our military hospitals, how desperately injured soldiers returning from Iraq, and later Afghanistan, responded to the bottle of whisky and hand written letter sent from the then Prince of Wales.

"If I still had my legs, I would walk 10 feet tall" one told me back then. When I recounted that story to HRH, he relished the fact that Tommy humour could be restored by such a ‘simple gesture.’  

A simple gesture perhaps, but one that speaks powerfully of the connectivity and character of our present-day King.

Last week Richard and I attended the funeral of Bryn Parry, the soldier, sculptor, artist and cartoonist.

It was Bryn who founded Help for Heroes some 15 years ago. At his funeral in Salisbury Cathedral his simple coffin was carried by six of the wounded Band of Brothers, two of whom were double amputees. The priest commented in his address that for years Bryn had been carrying the wounded; now the wounded were carrying him.

The King, The Prince of Wales and Prince Harry had all personally been in touch with Bryn in the weeks before his death, mirroring Bryn’s compassion for the ‘blokes’ by their very own care and compassion for him. In the past, The King has been judged by some as ‘remote, uncaring, out of touch’ when little could be further from the truth. Ask any of the one million young people who have seen their lives transformed over the years by the work of the Prince’s Trust.

Our Royal family is not perfect. No family ever is. Yet due to their tireless work, we remain one of the most envied countries in the modern world. Pragmatically there would be none of our glorious pageantry without a monarchy around which to base it. There can be no price on the soft value it brings to our nation.

But it is so much more than that. 

Come rain, come shine, the Coronation is a day to be wonderfully celebrated. May is a glorious month in this country of ours and no more so anywhere on earth than here in Norfolk. Blossoms and lilacs abound, pale green shoots bursting forth, gardens coming alive, and the first swallow has arrived. The abundant sense of renewal is everywhere you look.

And so, it is with our new King and Queen as well. Radiantly happy, bursting with ideas and positivity, and absolutely determined to make a very real difference to the nation they serve - and the nation they love with all their hearts. It is time to celebrate all the amazing things they stand for - and most importantly, the hope for the future they bring.

So, roll out the bunting, hang out the flags, start baking the sausage rolls! And spare a thought please for the neighbour who may yet be alone. Last year the Jubilee bought about a remarkable community cohesiveness in a way seldom seen before across the country. What an opportunity the Coronation gives us to do the same. Here in Norfolk, celebrate hard, have fun and enjoy every single moment!

But perhaps watch too the extraordinary and monumental event taking place at Westminster Abbey on Saturday, for it provides the absolute embodiment of our cultural heritage for centuries, humbling and pride-bursting in equal measure. 

We have so much for which to be grateful across this small nation of ours. 

God save the King indeed, and long may he reign over us!