Too big a crown for the new British monarch?

But commoners in Britain do not seem to have as much faith in their new monarch as they did with the late queen.

Kim Pil-gyuThe author is the Washington correspondent of the JoongAng Ilbo. King Charles III was officially crowned in a historic coronation ceremony held at Westminster Abbey over the weekend before 2,300 invited guests representing 203 countries and organizations and a global audience. Heads of foreign states, particularly of key British allies and members of the British Commonwealth, including Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, attended. First lady Jill Biden showed up in place of her husband and U.S. President Joe Biden.

The no-show of an American president to the crowning ceremony of the monarch of the U.S.’s closest ally had caused a controversy from last month. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that Biden’s absence was not “a snub,” as the two have kept up a good relationship.

Biden’s last and possibly next presidential rival Donald Trump did not let it go. “I think it’s very disrespectful for him [Biden] not to be here,” he told Nigel Farage, a former British politician who was a prominent supporter of Brexit. Biden and his White House had already annoyed the British for removing a bust of former U.K. prime minister Winston Churchill from the Oval Office.

Although Biden’s “no show” should not be over-interpreted, the episode has exposed the subtle discomfort between the two traditional allies.

Despite the “special relationship” the two countries held, no U.S. presidents have ever attended a royal coronation. Before the reign of Queen Victoria, U.S.-U.K. had not been on amicable terms of making reciprocal visits amid the American Revolution in 1775 and the War between the two in 1812. Travelling overseas had not been practical before transatlantic air trip became possible in the 1930s.

Queen Elizabeth II’s ascension to throne in 1953 could have set a new tradition. U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower forged a relationship with the new monarch when he served as the Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in London. But Eisenhower chose to stick with the U.S. tradition and send an envoy instead to the coronation on grounds that the U.S. was engaged in the Korea War.

Although the two countries were not directly engaged in a war, Washington turned down the royal invitation this time too. A reporter at the White House briefing told the press secretary that the tradition of nonattendance by American presidents in British coronations was kept when there were no planes to fly over the Atlantic, adding that the British could feel insulted by the “rejection” by the American president.

Regardless of the nonchalance by the White House, the rare royal event celebrating a new British monarch in nearly 70 years had been sensational among Americans. According to Travelport, a global travel booking platform, Americans were behind the largest international bookings for flights to London over the weekend, beating commonwealth nationals of Indians, Australians and Canadians.

Fans arrived days earlier in London to camp out for the best spot before the Buckingham Palace to watch the procession to the coronation ceremony. According to the British tourist authority, Americans are expected to spend 44 million pounds ($55.7 million) in the U.K. this May, covering more than 40 percent of the Charles coronation bill of 100 million pounds.

Stryker McGuire — a former Newsweek London bureau chief and current contributing editor who extensively covered the British royal family — said that Americans were as infatuated by the British royals just as the American celebrity and social influencer family of the Kardashians.

Britain’s King Charles III wearing the Imperial State Crown and Britain’s Queen Camilla wearing a modified version of Queen Mary’s crown wave from the Buckingham Palace balcony after viewing the Royal Air Force flypast in central London on May 6, 2023 after their coronations. [AFP/YONHAP]

But King Charles III stops short of drawing the blind fascination his mother enjoyed during her 70-year reign. According to a poll by YouGov, as much as 61 percent of Americans bore a positive view of the late queen. Charles ranked 9th among the royal family, behind his son Prince William and other relatives. The overwhelming shadow of his mother will likely remain a heavy burden on the new king.

Queen Elizabeth II solidified alliance with America through a meeting with President Eisenhower during her state visit to the U.S. in 1957. When Britain faced a military invasion by Argentina over the Falkland Islands in 1982, the queen invited the U.S. president Ronald Reagan to the Winsor Castle and reassured the British people while riding horses with him. The queen met as many as 13 American presidents during her long reign and had a great understanding of each U.S. administration, according to Robert Traynham, a current adjunct professor at Georgetown University.

Washington and London have many sensitive issues ranging from the war in Ukraine to China to Aukus — the trilateral security alliance of Australia, the U.K. and the U.S. — to work out. But commoners in Britain do not seem to have as much faith in their new monarch as they did with the late queen. One soldier who was invited to the coronation ceremony observed that the crown could be too big for King Charles as he may never match the global love his mother had enjoyed for long.