Is it just too, too?
Too much? Too resplendent?
Is all the fuss and falderal over the London coronation of Britain’s King Charles III this weekend a bit over the top in a world of inflation, conflagration, stagnation and misinformation?
Ya think?
“Well, I think not,” chirped best-selling American author Sally Bedell Smith, who has written four biographies on members of the British royal family.
“But I’m told there will be no tiaras,” she said, referring with a chuckle to the glittering, gem-laden head encrustations sprouting from royal females at posh pomp events.
In town last week, Smith and Sneed had a coronation chat about an event historically dripping in jewels, crowns, royal carriages, swords, lords, royal breeches, religious regalia and souvenir china bearing the likeness of the new throne-dwellers.
“Look, this is all a part of an extraordinary, unbroken royal thread extending back 1,000 years, a rare event, a good reminder of the core values of Britain,” Smith said. “It’s a good thing.
“The job of England’s constitutional monarch in the 19th century was described as a ‘grave occupation, never exciting’... with “ ‘nothing to stir eager blood or work off wild thoughts,’ ” she said.
“But I can assure you King Charles is a man of wild imagination; chasing intelligence his entire life, dedicated to serving his country,” said Smith, who spent four years researching the life of a “well-intentioned prince and son of an overbearing father he failed to please who spent his lifetime seeking approval.
“I think he wound up being the most imaginative of the lot.”
Smith’s research for her best-selling Prince Charles biography was a behavior study, detailing things like a formal lunch when a well-intentioned Prince Charles was 8, spotted eating wild strawberries improperly, later instructed by an uncle he had incorrectly picked off the stems before eating the berries, advised to hold the stems of the strawberries while dipping them in sugar before eating them.
The little prince had wanted to please, thinking he had failed those he loved the most.
Also an author of bestselling biographies on Princess Diana and Queen Elizabeth II, Smith was in town chatting up her latest book, “George VI and Elizabeth: The Marriage that Saved the Monarchy,” about the grandparents of King Charles III.
“They inherited the throne in 1937 abdicated by a king [Edward VIII] who left to marry the American woman he loved, Wallis Simpson,” she said. “It was a mess, but they wound up saving the family.”
Anyone for a wild strawberry?
Love letters ….
Escaping Trump? Not.
It’s no secret Donald Trump was so fond of “love” letters from notable nabobs that he trucked some from the White House to his Florida confines when he left office.
So it should come as no surprise a new Trump book titled “Letters to Trump,” now selling for $99 — or $399 with an autograph — includes a letter from King Charles III when he was still an heir-in-waiting: a mini thank-you note to “Mr. Trump” in 1995 for the offer of an honorary membership to his Mar-a-Lago resort.
Blimey!
Harry got a hug!
A very cordial Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson showed up at Harry Caray’s restaurant recently, gave a “Harry” hug to a statue of the late Cubs sportscaster and noted the size of the large eyeglasses.
Johnson “attended the B.I.G. Baseball Academy event, posed for pix with Cubs star Nico Hoerner,” said the eatery’s Grant DePorter, who showed hizzoner-elect where his photo will be hung next to that of Gov. J.B. Pritzker, a space once occupied by a famous “The West Wing” president, actor Martin Sheen.
The Springer obit …
How life imitates art.
In an attempt to end a Chicago City Council inquiry about what looked like “on-air” violence broadcast from “The Jerry Springer Show” in Chicago in 1999, Ald. Ed Burke, a former Chicago cop, got Springer to appear before the City Council for questioning.
Was the violence real or unreal?
When Ald. Dorothy Tillman tried to silence Springer’s evasive smart-ass non-answers, Springer shot back: “Why do you interrupt me, Dorothy!”
Then, Springer sprung … leaned into his microphone … and said: “Throw a chair at her.”
Only in Chicago!
Sneedlings …
Condolences to the family of former Chicago Tribune editor and Chicago Today film critic Mary Knoblauch, who has died at 80. Sneed is told Knoblaugh often joked about getting stuck between dueling newspaper film critics Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel shouting at each other onstage at lectures. And a special condolence to her brother Mark. ... Saturday birthdays: actress Uma Thurman, 53, actor Daniel Day-Lewis, 66, and singing legend Willie Nelson, 90. Sunday birthdays: actress Gal Gadot, 38, actress Kirsten Dunst, 41, and basketball Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas, 62. ... And a belated birthday to Dr. Linda Katz, ageless and priceless.
