Empire Rise: Spain-Chapter 27: Coronation Ceremony

Time quickly arrived at the end of November 1869, which was also the time the Spanish Government had prepared for King Carlo I’s Coronation Ceremony.
Primó attached great importance to this Coronation Ceremony, inviting European Powers including Britain and France, Prussia, Russia, Italy, and Austria, as well as longstanding European Monarchy Countries such as Portugal, the Netherlands, and Belgium.
However, the various countries had different attitudes toward the King of Spain’s Coronation Ceremony, and the identities of the envoys they dispatched were also completely different.
The ones who attached the most importance were undoubtedly Italy and Portugal.
Italy was easy to understand: Carlo was originally born into the Italian Royal Family and had a father-son relationship with King of Italy Vittorio Emanuele II, so receiving importance was only natural.
On the Portuguese side, firstly, Carlo’s sister Princess Maria Pia had married King of Portugal Louis I, making the two countries related by marriage.
Secondly, as the only two countries on the Iberian Peninsula, Spain posed a huge threat to Portugal.
The Portuguese Government wanted to use this ceremony to probe the new King of Spain Carlo’s attitude toward Portugal, in order to make corresponding preparations.
Although most European countries were on the invitation list for this Coronation Ceremony, the overall scale of the Coronation Ceremony was not large, as the Spanish Government did not have much funds to invest in this ceremony after all.
It was not that Primó did not attach importance to Carlo’s Coronation Ceremony. But the current Spanish Government was supporting the suppression of rebellion wars in the colonies while carrying out various reforms, so it was indeed somewhat difficult to allocate large sums of funds to hold the Coronation Ceremony.
Carlo also did not care how large the scale of his Coronation Ceremony was. Gaining recognition from the Spanish people was the most important thing; a larger scale would instead not be a good thing.
Through agricultural tax reduction and free literacy education, Carlo had accumulated a certain prestige in the hearts of the Spanish people.
At least the Spanish people supported this Coronation Ceremony, and many Spanish people participated on site, making it look extremely lively.
Under the expectant gazes of the crowd, a well-trained Royal Guard protected several carriages bearing the emblem of the Spanish House of Savoy as they slowly drove toward Parliament.
Inside the carriage, Carlo, dressed in splendid attire, sat solemnly, with his Royal Butler Loren beside him, reminding Carlo about the Coronation Ceremony procedures.
“Your Majesty, please remember to keep smiling.” Just one second before Carlo stepped out of the carriage, Loren did not forget to continue reminding him.
Carlo nodded and, the moment he stepped out of the carriage, the surrounding Spanish people immediately erupted in enthusiastic cheering.
Of course, the leaders were definitely pre-arranged by the government. At such a major moment, it was impossible not to arrange a few people to incite the emotions of the public.
Carlo smiled amiably and waved very amiably to the cheering crowd, without any airs of a king.
It was at this time that the Spanish people finally got a clear look at their king’s appearance: a young and handsome youth, completely different from Queen Isabella.
“This is what our king should look like.” This thought involuntarily arose in the minds of many Spanish people.
For those Spanish people who still supported the monarchy, what they desired most was for Spain to produce a wise and heroic monarch, preferably one who also cared about the situation of the grassroots Spanish people.
Based on Carlo’s actions so far, although he was still far from being a wise and heroic monarch, in terms of caring for the grassroots people, Carlo had indeed already shown some attitudes different from those of Queen Isabella.
In fact, it had to be admitted that relying on one’s looks worked in any era.
Carlo not only had a handsome appearance but also stood over 8 meters tall, with a relatively robust build.
Combined with the noble identity of a king and an aura of immense wealth, he quickly attracted the favor of a large number of Spanish girls.
If there were media institutions now that could select Spain’s most popular man, Carlo would definitely make the list, and taking first place would not be difficult at all.
Maintaining his gentle smile, Carlo waved to the crowd while slowly walking into the Parliament building.
Part of the guard behind him stayed around the carriages, while the other part stood on guard around the Parliament building.
At the entrance to Parliament, Spanish Prime Minister Primó had long been waiting eagerly. After performing a standard Spanish noble salute to Carlo, Primó led Carlo into the interior of the Parliament building.
In the hall on the first floor of Parliament, the Spanish nobles, Members of Parliament, a small number of invited foreign guests, and some religious figures had been waiting for a long time.
The one crowning Carlo was Spain’s Chief Archbishop, Toledo Archbishop Pedro.
It was a tradition in Europe since ancient times for a bishop to crown the king, and it had been almost the default until Napoleon.
The rank of the bishop crowning the monarch seemed to mysteriously determine the legitimacy of the crowned monarch.
Therefore, whether to enhance his own legitimacy in the minds of the public or to reassure Spain’s complex religious forces, a Chief Archbishop with sufficient status and identity was needed to crown Carlo.
The best choice would actually be Pope Pius IX. But the Pope had just been driven out of Rome by the Italian Government, with his territory shrinking from the vast Papal States to the tiny Vatican—how could he possibly come to crown Carlo, who was also of the House of Savoy?
Although military force could be used to threaten Pius IX to come to Madrid for the coronation, it might backfire and cause dissatisfaction among the Catholic Spanish people.
It was better to have Spain’s Chief Archbishop perform the coronation; after all, Toledo Archbishop’s status in Spain was already sufficient.
“King Carlo, are you willing to dedicate your life to Spain?” Archbishop Pedro held the crown representing the King of Spain and asked solemnly.
“I am willing.”
Archbishop Pedro nodded and said solemnly: “I, in the name of God, bestow upon you the crown of Spain. May you be loving toward your subjects and loyal toward your country.”
After going through the long and tedious coronation procedures, finally, under everyone’s gaze, Toledo Archbishop Pedro placed the crown representing the Spanish throne on Carlo’s head.
Carlo, wearing the Spanish crown on his head and holding the scepter symbolizing the king’s power in his hand, swept his gaze over the Spanish nobles and Members of Parliament, feeling immensely proud and high-spirited.
“We pay homage to His Majesty the King.”
Seeing that the moment had arrived, Primó on the side took the lead in performing the noble salute to Carlo.
“His Majesty the King!”
In unison, the Spanish Members of Parliament and nobles, including Toledo Archbishop Pedro, all lowered their heads to Spain’s new king.
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