Chapter 2380 - 308: The Impact of Imperial Publishing: Hastings’s 1838 Offensive_2

Perhaps only God knows how Her Majesty the Queen managed to walk with such composure, elegance, and grace under the circumstances.

Besides that, the elderly bishops performed equally poorly, revealing the disadvantages of inadequate rehearsal.

The Durham Bishop seemed utterly at a loss during the ceremony, completely unaware of what he was supposed to be doing. And the Bath and Wells Bishop, more embarrassingly, mistakenly turned two pages of the ceremony guidelines, forcing Her Majesty to interrupt the process of changing clothes in Saint Edward’s Chapel and return to the site to complete the ceremony again.

Due to Her Majesty’s calmness and poise at the scene, many might overlook the Archbishop of Canterbury’s mistake during the coronation ceremony. According to English tradition, the Archbishop must place the coronation ring on the monarch’s fourth finger, the ring finger. However, the royal jeweler misunderstood "fourth finger" as "little finger," resulting in a ring that did not fit at all.

Court insiders reveal that Her Majesty once tried to persuade the Archbishop to place the ring on her little finger, but the Archbishop insisted on putting it on the correct finger. As a consequence, after the ceremony, Her Majesty’s finger swelled significantly, requiring immersion in ice water to remove the ring.

This is simply the biggest curiosity of the year!

Perhaps many readers who did not attend the scene might think, could the coronation ceremony be any worse?

Unfortunately, your thoughts are completely wrong.

Because the music at the coronation ceremony was equally exceptionally bad.

Sir George Smart seemed to attempt to shoulder both the roles of organist and conductor, which essentially meant there was very little conducting at the coronation scene.

As criticized by the Observer yesterday: "The music of the coronation ceremony is a serious libel on the current level of art in our country."

and our country’s most authoritative music magazine, Music World, also published a lengthy article criticizing the on-site music: "Mr. Smart seems to have neither compositional talent nor memory ability and artistic skills. We cannot imagine how one can engage in creation without at least one of these traits, whether as an amateur or a professional. We feel ashamed for him, and for the decline of our great Protestant Church music tradition."

My indignation over this matter is entirely no less than that of the Observer and Music World, because I found that a certain piano piece used at the coronation site employed a style that never existed in the world. If not for the lack of personnel among those in power who can discern what is appropriate musical score, how could such an absurd and laughable farce be performed?

Even more tragic is that Sir Arthur Hastings, the talented musician who defeated the King of Piano Liszt at Buckingham Palace last year, was completely excluded. It’s not that Britain’s musical talent is lacking; rather, it struggles under an inability to be utilized.

Why not invite this world-class musician to take charge of conducting and provide the ceremony with appropriate artistic standards?

Clearly, foolish personal prejudice and shameful political manipulation exist behind this!

Of course, in this disastrous coronation ceremony, the most deserving of sympathy are far from being Sir Arthur Hastings.

Fairly speaking, besides Her Majesty, the one suffering the unexpected disaster is the over-eighties Lord John Roll.

When this old man fell on the church steps, everyone was shocked.

At that time, two nobles were supporting this amiable and weak elderly person, yet just as he was about to touch the royal footrest, he slipped from the supporters’ hands and rolled down the steps, finally lying at the bottom of the steps with his robe curled.

This was supposed to be an embarrassing moment, yet the kind-hearted Her Majesty immediately rose from the throne and reached out to assist the poor old lord.

Perhaps God wished to commend Her Majesty’s benevolent act, as everyone present claimed that a beam of light shone through the church skylight onto Her Majesty’s crimson coronation gown, the brilliance of the coronation crown dazzling, which made the old lord burst into tears.

Her Majesty’s decent, kind, and compassionate behavior at the ceremony almost completely overshadowed the failures of this hideous coronation ceremony.

However, this does not hinder the spread of fabrications about Lord Roll among the tourist groups from that annoying country across the sea.

A friend of mine told me that a foreigner residing in London solemnly informed his fellow tourists that the condition for the Roll family to retain the peerage was to perform this circus trick of falling on the steps at every coronation.

What’s even more aggravating is that this international humiliation brought to Britain by the incompetent Whig Party government is still continuing to ferment!

As the ceremony neared its end, Lord Surrey was responsible for distributing coronation commemorative medals to the crowd. These souvenirs were tossed around by Lord Surrey, and everyone scrambled with all their might to seize them. The saddest part was that the usually polite court ladies were more aggressive in their snatching than anyone else. The irresponsible Lord Surrey was nearly torn apart in this frenzy; he ended up with no patience, appearing red all over like a turkey.

However, despite the absurdity of this coronation ceremony, amidst all the clamor and mistakes, we must pay a lofty tribute to one group—the Scotland Yard officers. They are the unsung heroes behind this political spectacle, silently safeguarding the safety of every noble, official, and ordinary citizen present, averting countless potential dangers for us.

More commendable is that the Scotland Yard officers’ performance during the coronation ceremony far exceeded the usual duty requirements.

According to the London City Hall report, before the ceremonial day began, London had already flooded with 400,000 tourists from other places.

This was also the longest parade route in nearly two hundred years, yet the route starting from Buckingham Palace, passing through Hyde Park Corner, Piccadilly Street, St. James Street, Belgrave Street, Charing Cross Street, and Whitehall Avenue, ultimately reaching Westminster Abbey, had no incidents reported throughout the ceremony.

Despite officers not donning resplendent attire, standing within the spacious and bright Westminster Abbey, they were not overly attended by the media, nor did they receive even a simple word of thanks during their busy work.

Perhaps we were unfortunate to witness the worst coronation ceremony in the world, but simultaneously, we are also very fortunate to have the best Scotland Yard in the world.

...

London, Westminster, Melbourne Mansion.

Viscount Melbourne leaned against the sofa with a glass of fine Bordeaux, looking very tired, as if his soul had been emptied by yesterday’s coronation ceremony.

With a snap.

Viscount Palmerston tossed the freshly baked British onto the coffee table: "What do you think?"

Viscount Melbourne didn’t even raise an eye: "Is the Home Office brat at it again?"

"This time, it’s not just a tantrum." Viscount Palmerston pulled out a cigar box and took out a cigar: "He thinks he’s grown wings now; this is a blatant declaration of war against us."

Viscount Melbourne sipped his wine: "It’s just an article from the Britisher, not published in The Times."

"William, you wouldn’t be so naive as to believe that, would you?" Viscount Palmerston tapped the coffee table: "I’ll bet you ten pounds, The Times editorial will come out tomorrow."

"Are you that confident?" Viscount Melbourne put down his wine glass and stretched: "Are you sure Thomas Barnes of The Times will definitely do him this favor?"

"I’m not sure, but the Economist and Spark are already following in British’s wake like two ghosts knocking on the door!"

When he said this, Palmerston couldn’t contain his anger anymore. He finished his wine in one go, then stood up and said: "You must make Russell pay more attention to Hastings’ growing influence. Until now, I still insist on my initial opinion; it was a bad idea to raise Arthur Hastings to the position of permanent deputy secretary of the Home Office! He holds the police department, Imperial Publishing, and even maintains good relations with Her Majesty. If he decides to represent the Conservative Party in the election, how many seats do you think we can win in London next election?"

Viscount Melbourne counted on his fingers: "Besides the two seats in London City, the remaining 14 seats are hard to say..."

Upon hearing that, Palmerston rose and said: "Since you know, why indulge him?"