King Charles finds the idea of people paying homage to him “abhorrent”, his friend Jonathan Dimbleby has said while seeking to pin the blame for the proposal on the archbishop of Canterbury.
There has been a widespread backlash against the idea of a “homage of the people”, in which the general public is invited to swear allegiance to the king during the coronation on Saturday.
Dimbleby told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I can think of nothing that [Charles] would find more abhorrent. He’s never wanted to be revered. He’s never wanted, as far as I know, to have anyone pay homage to him, except in mock terms as a joke.
“He wants, I think, to feel that people will share in the event – and I don’t quite know how this might have happened. I don’t know for certain but it would seem to me that this was an initiative by the archbishop who, as we know, is strongly evangelical, who thought it would be a good thing to give everyone a chance to pay that homage. I think it was well-intentioned and rather ill-advised.”
Dimbleby, a veteran broadcaster who has been a close friend and confidant of Charles for about 30 years and has recorded many interviews with him, is likely to be familiar with the king’s thinking.
The homage of the people was “most bizarre” and was likely to be the outcome of “miscommunication”, Dimbleby said. It was “so different from the king that I know to ask for or expect homage”.
Lambeth Palace, the archbishop’s office, announced last weekend that, as part of the coronation service, for the first time the general public would be invited to join in a declaration of loyalty to the king. Traditionally such declarations were said by hereditary peers.
Lambeth Palace said it hoped people watching the coronation at home or in public venues such as parks would say the words: “I swear that I will pay true allegiance to your majesty, and to your heirs and successors, according to law. So help me God.”
The homage of the people was met with widespread derision, with many saying such an oath of loyalty was more appropriate to feudal times than the 21st century. The campaign group Republic called the idea “nonsense” and “offensive”.
Following Dimbleby’s comments, Lambeth Palace repeated its insistence that all elements in the coronation service were drawn up in close consultation with Buckingham Palace.
At a briefing on the coronation service last Friday, a Lambeth Palace spokesperson said the service reflected “complete consensus between Lambeth Palace, the royal household and His Majesty’s government.”
When asked directly this week if the people’s homage had been his idea, Justin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury, told the BBC: “The whole service is a major collaborative process in which everyone worked through, a huge range of people work through the whole thing. There’s no individual who can claim the credit for this service.”
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A Lambeth Palace spokesperson told reporters earlier this week: “Oaths and commitments of allegiance are very much commonplace all over the country, from parliaments and assemblies to the church, police, armed forces, citizenship ceremonies and even in scouts and guiding.”
The people’s homage was “very much an invitation, rather than an expectation or request”, the spokesperson added.
“We live in a wonderfully diverse society with many different perspectives and beliefs – which this coronation celebrates – and therefore it’s quite right that people decide for themselves how they wish to relate to this moment.”
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