The Cut - A Lukewarm Coronation

You know that moment in a long-running television series when the beloved protagonist is written out and everything just feels off? The show might seem like it could trundle on, but it’s just not the same. This precise energy has gripped an even longer-running saga: the British monarchy. With the coronation of King Charles III this weekend, the royal institution is attempting to relaunch itself and draw a line under a dramatic few years. But after the loss of its biggest star, Queen Elizabeth II, it’s difficult to detect much enthusiasm for the new lead.

Before Elizabeth died, I had an unscientific theory that pretty much every British gay man over 40 loved her. Even if they didn’t necessarily care for the monarchy as an institution, they would secretly stan her from afar. I sing in a gay choir in London, and when she died, I’d say my thesis was underlined by this reaction: There was a two-minute silence at rehearsal and even a rendition of “Somewhere” from West Side Story, which was filmed and sent to the royals with deepest sympathies. (Let’s hope they’re Sondheim fans.) At the following week’s rehearsal, a choral rendition of “God Save the King” was recorded. Outside, I found myself huddled with a small group of fellow choir members who weren’t keen on being filmed singing about how happy we were to have our “gracious” king reign over us. In a cloud of cigarette smoke, there was something rebellious about it — the dissenters were very much in the minority in this group but also in the wider country, where a period of national mourning was being enforced so rigidly that even food banks were closed out of “respect.”

First, the WHO has downgraded COVID from global public-health emergency to a mere “significant public-health problem.” Can you tell the difference between a “superfake” handbag and the real thing? There’s a trailer for the Bama Rush documentary, and it looks as wild as we’d hoped. We’re trying not to roll our eyes into the back of our heads at the idea of baby-naming consultants. Today we learned Diane Keaton has made more money flipping houses than she has making movies. And run, don’t walk: Online Ceramics has launched a kids’ section.

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