The stress and accent of this service has shifted us slightly from obedience to the monarch to the monarch’s commitment to service and faithfulness

David Hoyle, Dean of Westminster, The Times, 1 May

[If] the start of the Elizabethan era in 1952 was marked by a renewed optimism in the post-war period with an invigorated Commonwealth, then perhaps the start of the Carolean era is marked by a nation that is pluralistic, multi-cultural, diverse and continuing to ask some fundamental questions of its own identity

Stephen Cottrell, The House magazine, 2 May

He [Jesus] was scathing in his warnings about wealth, yet the coronation blesses opulence at a time of suffering and economic hardship. He scolded the powerful, yet monarchy is a living symbol of unelected and unaccountable power. Such a blatant contradiction can in no sense be considered Christ-like, in spite of any personal qualities of those involved

Michael Coren, i newspaper, 1 May

The reminder that the coronation will give to people in Britain is that its roots are fabulously ancient, that its constitutional structure is suffused by notions of the supernatural, that it is altogether a much weirder country than it might on the surface appear, may serve to thrill as well as appal

Tom Holland, The Observer, 30 April

He [Archbishop Welby] commanded respect and helped secure many important reforms [on the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards]. [The then Chancellor] George Osborne’s instinct was to oppose almost everything recommended. But he became much more pliable once I reminded him that the Archbishop of Canterbury would be tabling our recommendations as amendments if they didn’t make the bill. George said, “Well, you’ve got God on your side, Andrew”

Lord Tyrie, quoted in The Sunday Times, 30 April

While church teaching and Christian culture might seem niche and irrelevant to many in our 21st-century world, we’re all affected by their legacy. Centuries of institutionalised religion have reinforced the idea that the journey to maturity is incomplete without the experience of marriage and babies. And this despite the fact that Christianity’s central figure was single

Emma John, The Observer, 30 April

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