Pretenders to the Throne
We love to crown kings. This week alone, cricketer Graeme Swann was hailed as England's 'spin-king saviour', a posthumous 75th birthday bash was thrown for Elvis Presley - the king of rock 'n' roll - on the lawns of Graceland, and, as his latest film Avatar amassed record box office receipts, speculation mounted that Titanic Director James Cameron would crown himself 'king of the universe'.
It seems Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg spoke more truth than he realised when he dubbed the great British public 'king-makers' in view of their power to elect the next government.
If Britain constructed the ideal king, what would he look like? The Tower of London's current exhibition on Henry VIII spotlights his sporting credentials, valorising the muscular power, mental strength and brutal determination needed to succeed on jousting and battle field alike. Today, we make heroes of Swann, Beckham and Wilkinson, honouring their physical prowess and gentlemanly attitude to competition, having more refined taste than our Tudor ancestors.
Shakespeare suggested good kingship required a little more than undisputed flair and a sharp PR agent. Richard II has to be stripped of his power to recognise the value of integrity, humility and compassion in a monarch, while Henry V asks 'what have kings that privates have not, save ceremony', provoking a re-examination both of how we view our monarchs and how they understand their subjects.
Shortly before Christmas, Prince William - very likely a future King of England - sought to understand the plight of the homeless by sleeping rough on the streets of London for a night. It was a commendable gesture, revealing a compassionate concern for the poorest members of society, but William's night on the streets won't eradicate homelessness. The truth is that no earthly king (or queen) can fully resolve the pressing issues of terrorism, climate change, political corruption or social injustice.
Nevertheless, we can hope that William's gesture is indicative of an innate humility - that rare quality that brought the Christ-child to the poverty of the Bethlehem manger, in order that we, through his life, death and resurrection, might become children of the King of Kings. Whether we be a prince, a princess, a police officer, a picker, a packer or a porter, we, like the magi (who were not kings and probably not three) must all learn from him that:
He who would wear a crown
Must first bow low,
Must first bow down.
(Mark Greene)
Naomi Carle
Comments
There are currently no comments for this article.
