Crowning glory, or silly adult headgear?

Wearing a crown – the bling thing a king pins on his head even in circa 2023 – outside a stage or cinema production is really a fancy-dress prop. Ceremonial headgears and turbans are one thing. But a crown of the metal’n’bejewelled kind on the head of a grown-up is visually quite funny. But that’s what ‘tradition’ allows grown-ups to get away with. Wars have been fought, marriages arranged, and even murders committed, all in the name of crowns. Nowadays, though, crowns don’t hold that old value, a coronation being the only function outside museums for the glorified headband.

Whenever a character in a movie or TV show puts on a crown, you know they’re about to do something really stupid or really evil. It’s like the crown has magical powers that turn people into megalomaniacs. In real life, however, rare as it has thankfully become, the crowning glory of a crown is just that: in the placement of the hyper-hat on a head that everyone into monarchy believes that head should be wearing. So, the next time you see someone wearing a crown, just remember that at least in the 21st century, that person is probably not as important as ‘believers in the crown’ think they are.

If it’s not a headache, then, at best, it’s a very popular television drama series with things like coronation and the crown being both PR for the show as well as its merch.