By Christos Zampounis

Apart from Charles, Camilla, William, William, Kate, George, Charlotte, Charlotte, Louis and Harry, the star of the Roof, after all, was Penny Mordaunt. Penelope, Penelope in English, might have waited all her life not for Odysseus to return, but to star in a ceremony with hundreds of millions of viewers. Not that she hadn’t found herself in the limelight in previous years occupying marginal ministerial positions, such as that of Defence Secretary. Commoner, a commoner, that is, without a title, had the supreme privilege of wielding the King’s Sword, the State Sword, weighing about two kilograms, preceding King Charles III on his march from the throne to the exit of Westminster Abbey. How did this happen? Quite simply, thanks to a woman’s bras de fer.

For those not following UK domestic politics, Mordaunt was running to succeed Boris Johnson as leader of the Conservative Party. As most of us will recall, the race was won by Liz Truss. Without totally defying her, in the government she formed she was given the Head of the House of Commons, a rather ornamental post. How could the gloating and dismissed Prime Minister have imagined that her opponent would serve in that capacity as President of the King’s Privy Council, his Privy Council, and therefore have a central role in his Coronation? Another question asked by the ignorant among us, including this writer? What is the reason for Penny’s haughty stature? Well, well, she is a Royal Navy captain, the only female MP serving in the aforementioned Corps.

Well done, Penelope!