I've been thinking about what we say yesterday. Here my view and opinion of the events.

I loved the music both during the service and before and i was impressed with all the bands in the procession playing the same music on the way back. The choral tradition of the UK shone like the brightest jewel. For me what the musicians and singers, young and old achieved was amazing and memorable. The Coronation Procession from the Abbey to the Palace was stunning. What those 4 to 5 thousands men and women of the various armed forces displayed was spectacular. The moment they saluted the king and queen with three cheers in the palace gardens is one i will never forget. Even through the television set their enthusiasm and energy filled the room.
I think princess Charlotte and prince Louis looked and behaved impeccable. I also want to pay special attention to the 8 pages that served the king and queen as well as the two equerries and the two ladies attending the queen. All of them did their job beautifully and it must have been very special for their Majesties to have this kind of loving support.

Growing up with the late queen's coronation as the most glittering royal event of the 20th century i knew that this coronation would not try to rival the previous one. Still i was disappointed.

So after the sweet now the sour.

To me the entire service seemed rushed and contrived. At times gaudy and unfortunately bordering on the preposterous. Instead of feeling contemporary the service felt out of place and out of time. The dress code did exactly what i feared. The king looked like a character from the fairy tale the emperor's new clothes out of place and incredible old. Instead of feeling impressed i was underwhelmed and i consider myself lucky to live in a monarchy that opted for abdication to transmit the top job from generation to generation in secular ceremonies. By the choices they made the ceremony felt even more religious and Anglican than the one in 1953 in a day and age when many people don't support that religion or religion at all.
The anointing of the queen and her coronation was a shambles.

Now for the dress code.
The King's outfit looked silly. The navy pants with buckled slippers and the Georgian coat was ridiculous.
The guests looked like they had received varied instructions even if they belonged to the same group. Leading to men wearing lounge suits, sports jackets as well as morning suits all without hats. Somehow women did combine their day dresses with hats. Though even the Grand Duchess of Luxembourg did not wear a hat (i applaud her for not doing so, If your husband is not wearing a hat there is no reason for you as a woman to do so in my opinion) she did enter the Abbey in pants with a top. Not exactly formal day wear for women.

We saw the speakers of both Chambers of Parliament in breeches, stockings and slippers with trains that were worn by staff. Even officials of London were in historic costumes fitting to their position. They looked odd and antiquated among the rest of the congregation.

Foreign Royals did not know either. Queen Suthida of Thailand looked grand in her traditional gown with some impressive jewels. King Abdullah II of Jordan seemed to think he was going to a business meeting wearing a lounge suit with King Willem-Alexander in a morning suit but lacking a top hat. His wife like many women somehow though they needed to combine their dresses with a hat, though some did not wear one or opted for a fascinator. Apparently the races at Ascot have a stricter dress code than the coronation of the UK monarch.

The working ladies of the Royal Family opted for silly head gear that could easily have been exchanged for more fitting options from their jewel boxes. Why wear some fake shiny botanical elements in your hair when you have diamond versions in your vault? I will never get it.

In all the ceremony left me underwhelmed. Instead of feeling more monarchist after yesterday i feel more critical and less monarchist. Being Dutch and not religious i feel yesterday's service was out of date and out of place in a 21st century secular society like the UK. I think a simply swearing-in ceremony in Westminster Hall with the king in a uniform and the ribbon of the order of the Garter with Camilla in a nice long dress, the order and the state diadem would have been far preferable in my view. If they needed a religious ceremony they could have held a thanksgiving service this morning.

Charles being 74 made him look old and i really understand the point many made before about skipping a generation. It's sad and almost pathetic to see a senior citizen pretend like he still is a young man. He isn't! There was not grand reception and dinner after the coronation with those 100 foreign heads of state attending the coronation. By the dinner time the sovereigns sat with their feet up at no doubt a tray dinner. Younger sovereigns would have been able to handle that, but Charles and Camilla cannot.

I do really hope Charles understands his reign has to be short (no more than 10 years and preferably less). I also hope William and Catherine will reassess the events of yesterday. I know what i would prefer, but im not a UK subject. I do however feel what we saw yesterday is not to be repeated if the UK monarchy wants to survive in the long term.