Here is the first sentence from the lead story in the Britain section of the current edition of the Economist: “On May 6th, in London, a man will be given a hat.”

This concludes the competition for commentary. We thank everyone for their interest.

Actually, I found Robert Tombs’s Spectator article, a concise effort to contextualize the event using a very old spoon, most insightful:

The coronation ceremony, with all its mysteries and oddities, dates back before the Norman Conquest, and it is something that we can all – however diverse our backgrounds – choose to accept and celebrate as above and beyond our present discontents.

It may be that the monarchy has overstayed its welcome, but so has the mindset that values polling the public for their opinion of it. History is an account of the steps we take from past to present. It does not require personal endorsement or rejection, through the rearview mirror of generational self-awareness now available to us, of all manner of pretension, inefficiency, and injustice.

It just is. The question is: where do we want to go from here? Answering that is difficult enough on its own, never mind if we neglect the path that led us here.

While I admire all changes of heart, however late, the declaration last week, from the so-called grandfather of artificial intelligence, that his life’s work is now our foremost clear and present danger, felt a little like yelling fire in a crowded room—from the guy who started the fire. Methinks the good Dr. Frankenstein doth protest too much.

Speaking of lapses in character, if you’re not a fan of comedian Roy Wood Jr., let his recent chat with Kara Swisher, on her eponymous podcast, redeem you from further embarrassment.