I know that several of
you, like me, enjoyed watching the recent Netflix miniseries, The Crown. For me, one of the most moving scenes was
Elizabeth’s coronation in Westminster Abbey at the close of the fifth episode,
an event whose planning had consumed a good deal of the dramatic tension in the
several episodes preceding it. The
Netflix series faithfully rendered the grand music, solemn ritual and stunning
costumes of the ceremony.
It also showed part of
the homage, the ancient ceremony that
follows the anointing and crowning of the monarch. The senior nobles of the kingdom, the “lords
of the realm,” (Prince Philip notably among them) knelt before the new queen to
speak an oath and kiss her hand. The
words of the oath at the homage (not includes in the series script, if I
remember correctly), are these: “I do become your liege man of life and limb,
and of earthly worship; and faith and truth I will bear unto you, to live and
die, against all manner of folks. So
help me God.”
The oath is a promise of deep
loyalty. The act of kneeling expresses
respect, even a kind of reverence for the monarchy and its place in the life of
the nation. And the kiss is a token of
affection, a sign that the promise is made freely, with the whole heart.
