A new Labor government in Great Britain is now picking up where the Conservatives left off. The king is now counting his swans.
Few have multiple titles, such as Charles Philip Arthur George of the House of Windsor. He is the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Additionally, he is the head of the 56-state Commonwealth, a feudal lord of the British Crown Possessions, the secular head of the Anglican Church and the commander-in-chief of the British Armed Forces.
It took the Archbishop of Canterbury what felt like an eternity to read all the titles during the coronation. However, he avoided one topic. The British monarch is the “Seigneur of the Swans”. Ruler of swans. If you’re not a Swan, you don’t have to be interested in this. But waterfowl do. Because every July the King asserts his right and his feathered subjects are counted.
Each swan is captured and measured
His courtiers set out on the Thames in narrow wooden boats. Men in white pants and red dresses need five days to catch and mark the swans. The ritual dates back to the 12th century, when the crown claimed all open water swans. Swan was considered a delicacy then. And the demand for royal banquets was obvious.
Since eating the ducks is now forbidden, the palace now restricts them to counting them. This year should be around 1,000.
Each swan is weighed by the royal counting masters. Beaks, feathers and webbed feet are measured and examined. An annual health check that British rural residents can only dream about now.
The power of the royal family weakened
But they are comforting rituals in times of decline. Not only for citizens but also for kings. The British Empire is now not as united as its name suggests. Since Brexit, the margins have been crumbling under the centrifugal forces of independence.
The monarch’s powers were curtailed much earlier. Opening hospitals and flower shows is part of the royal family’s routine, and he reads the government program once a year as the prime minister’s ventriloquist. However, the monarch still has unrestricted constitutional authority over all whales, dolphins and swans in the British Animal Kingdom. These are almost biblical conditions.
But an ornithological census of the Thames shows how the British Crown’s earthly powers have actually been diluted.
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