Chapter 27: The Coronation Ceremony

Time quickly arrived at the end of November 1869, which was also the time the Spanish government had prepared for the coronation ceremony of King Carlos I.

Primo attached great importance to this coronation, inviting the European powers including Britain, France, Prussia, Russia, Italy, and Austria, as well as old European monarchies such as Portugal, the Netherlands, and Belgium.

However, each country held a different attitude toward the Spanish King's coronation, and the status of the envoys they sent differed significantly.

The ones who attached the most importance were likely Italy and Portugal.

Italy was easy to understand; Carlos was born into the Italian royal family and was the son of the King of Italy, Victor Emmanuel II, so it was only natural that he was held in high regard.

As for Portugal, firstly, Carlos's sister, Princess Maria Pia, had married King Luís I of Portugal, so the two countries were considered to be related by marriage.

Secondly, as the only two countries on the Iberian Peninsula, Spain posed a massive threat to Portugal.

The Portuguese government wanted to use this ceremony to probe the new Spanish King Carlos's attitude toward Portugal, so they could make the corresponding preparations.

Although most European countries were on the invitation list for this coronation, the overall scale of the ceremony was not large; after all, the Spanish government did not have much capital to invest in it.

It was not that Primo did not value Carlos's coronation. But the current Spanish government was supporting the colonial counter-insurgency war while simultaneously carrying out various reforms, so it was truly difficult to scrape together a large sum of money to host a coronation ceremony.

Carlos did not care how large his coronation ceremony was. Gaining the recognition of the Spanish people was what mattered most; a larger scale might actually not be a good thing.

Through agricultural tax cuts and free literacy education, Carlos had managed to accumulate a certain amount of prestige in the hearts of the Spanish people.

At least the Spanish people supported this coronation, and many were present at the scene, making it look exceptionally lively.

Under the expectant gazes of the crowd, a well-trained Royal Guard protected several carriages bearing the coat of arms of the Spanish House of Savoy as they slowly drove toward the parliament.

Inside the carriage, a luxuriously dressed Carlos sat upright with a serious expression, while his Wang Gong steward, Luo Lun, was reminding him of the coronation ceremony's procedures.

"Your Majesty, please remember to keep smiling." In the second before Carlos stepped out of the carriage, Luo Lun did not forget to continue reminding him.

Carlos nodded, and the moment he stepped out of the carriage, the Spanish crowd watching from the perimeter immediately erupted into enthusiastic cheers.

Of course, the ones leading it were definitely arranged by the government in advance. At such a major moment, it was impossible not to arrange a few people to incite the crowd's emotions.

Carlos wore a smile and waved to the cheering crowd in a very approachable manner, without any airs of a king.

Only then did the Spanish people clearly see what their king looked like: a young, handsome man with a completely different demeanor from Queen Isabella.

"This is what our king should look like." This thought could not help but arise in the hearts of many Spaniards.

For those Spaniards who still supported the monarchy, what they craved most was for Spain to have a wise and martial monarch, preferably one who also cared about the plight of the common people.

As far as Carlos's current actions were concerned, although he was still far from being a wise and martial monarch, he had indeed shown an attitude toward caring for the common people that was different from Queen Isabella's.

In fact, one has to admit that relying on one's looks is useful in any era.

Carlos not only possessed a good appearance, but his height had also long since exceeded 1. meters, and his physique was relatively robust.

Coupled with the noble status of a king and an aura of immense wealth, he quickly attracted the favor of a large number of Spanish girls.

If there were a media organization that could rank the most popular men in Spain right now, Carlos would definitely be on the list, and placing first would not be a difficult task.

Maintaining his gentle smile, Carlos walked slowly into the parliament building while waving to the crowd.

Part of the guard behind him remained around the carriages, while the other part stood guard around the parliament building.

At the entrance of the parliament, Spanish Prime Minister Primo had long been waiting expectantly. After Primo performed a standard Spanish noble salute to Carlos, he led Carlos into the interior of the parliament building.

In the parliament hall on the first floor, 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 Carlos was the Chief Archbishop of Spain, Archbishop of Toledo, Pedro.

It was an ancient European tradition for a bishop to crown a king, and before Napoleon, it was almost the default.

The status of the bishop who crowned the monarch seemed to secretly determine the degree of legitimacy of the monarch being crowned.

Therefore, whether for the sake of his legitimacy in the hearts of the people or to put the complex religious forces in Spain at ease, an archbishop with sufficient status was needed to crown Carlos.

In fact, the best choice would have been Pope Pius IX. But the Pope had just been driven out of Rome by the Italian government, and his territory had changed from the vast Papal States to the tiny Vatican; how could he possibly crown Carlos, who was also of the House of Savoy?

Although using force could threaten Pius IX to come to Madrid to crown him, it might also backfire and cause the Catholic-believing Spanish people to feel dissatisfied.

It was better to let the Chief Archbishop of Spain perform the coronation; in any case, the status of the Archbishop of Toledo in Spain was already sufficient.

"Your Majesty Carlos. Are you willing to dedicate your life to Spain?" Archbishop Pedro asked with a serious expression, holding the crown that represented the King of Spain.

"I am willing."

Archbishop Pedro nodded and said solemnly: "I represent God in bestowing upon you the crown of Spain. May you be merciful to your subjects and loyal to your country."

After going through the long and tedious coronation process, the Archbishop of Toledo, Pedro, finally placed the crown representing the Spanish Wang Weijicheng on Carlos's head under the gaze of everyone.

With the Spanish crown on his head and the scepter symbolizing the king's power in his hand, Carlos scanned the Spanish nobles and members of parliament, his heart filled with heroic spirit and high spirits.

"Pay respects to His Majesty the King."

Seeing that the time was right, Primo, who was to the side, took the lead in performing a noble salute to Carlos.

"His Majesty the King!"

In unison, the Spanish members of parliament and nobles, including Archbishop of Toledo Pedro, bowed their heads to the new King of Spain.

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(End of chapter)