Chapter 179: Chapter 178: Coronation

Anne and Mama spent the better part of 3 days looking for my coronation dress before finally giving up and taking me in to a tailor to have me measured so that one could be made for me.

What is designed for me is a lavender satin, off the shoulder with cap sleeves, deep v-neck fitted upper dress. The flared skirt is floor-length with a 1 meter train. When they finish it, I’m taken back in for a final fitting, and I will say I do look darn good in it. I think if we add some nude stockings and my black, 10 centimeter stiletto heeled pumps that it will be simply gorgeous.

If you’re wondering why it has a deep v-neck, it’s so I can be anointed with holy oil to sanctify me during the ceremony.

Then is practice for the ceremony itself. Over and over again until they thought I had it down pat. Although, thankfully, I heard my coronation oath just once and had it memorized.

So, my coronation has been set for the 30th, and the number of people that want to attend is overwhelmingly high. Last I heard, the total was over 8,000, including some 1,100 from the News media around the world.

It’s being held at Westminster Abbey with the Archbishop of Canterbury performing the prayer and giving me my coronation oath.

There’s a lot that goes on during my coronation, but honestly, it would bore you to tears if I told you every single detail of it. I’ll merely tell you some highlights of the ceremony here and there.

The ceremony has six parts: the recognition, the oath, the anointing, the crowning, the enthronement and the homage. Though, some changes have been made at my request. Thankfully, they were agreed to.

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[Saturday, July 30]

The three of us are woken up by a maid at 7 in the morning. We bathe and throw on something comfortable, then walk out into the hallway and follow the maid down to the dining room to eat. After greeting George, Anne and the rest of my family, we take our seats.

After we eat, I’m led back upstairs to a room where they spend over two hours getting me ready. Hair, nails, eyebrows, makeup and finally, dressing me in my gown. They don’t put much jewelry on me, some platinum and diamond earrings and my wedding rings.

Once they finish, they check me over a couple more times, and I’m finally pronounced ready. I’m led downstairs where I’m turned back over to George and Anne.

The two of them then escort me out to a horse drawn carriage, which we board, and then slowly make our way along the packed street to Westminster Abbey. The three of us smile and wave to the crowd as we go. I’ve no idea if so many turned out for a chance to see George and Anne in person or if it’s me or maybe even all three of us.

Frankly, I’m amazed at how well the people around the world are taking the news that their nations will basically cease to exist as independent entities in about a year. That’s not to say that there hasn’t been some grumbling and even a few instances where people talked about assassinating me, but those were quickly and quietly dealt with.

A few minutes later, we arrive at the Abbey, dismount and take our positions to wait for our cue to enter.

The litany of the saints is sung during the procession of the clergy and other dignitaries. Once it ends, I enter Westminster Abbey closely followed by George and Anne. We slowly make our way along the aisle to the dias, where I take a seat on the Chair of Estate.

The archbishop calls for the recognition of the sovereign, with the words, “Ladies and gentlemen, I hereby present unto you Sora Ueno, your undoubted Queen. Wherefore all you who are come this day to do your homage and service, are you willing to do the same?”

The audience replies, “We will.”

The archbishop turns to me and asks, “Will you solemnly promise and swear to govern the Peoples of the United Earth Alliance in accordance with the laws and customs of the same?”

“I so solemnly promise.”

“Will you use your power in the names of Law, Justice, and Mercy in all of your judgments?”

“I will.”

“Your Majesty, do you have an ascension declaration to make?”

“I do.

“I, Sora Ueno, hereby solemnly swear to the people of the United Earth Alliance that I shall constantly preserve and uphold the principles, laws and customs of the United Earth Alliance and its Constitution. I swear that I shall defend and preserve the independence and territory of the United Earth Alliance to the best of my ability. Furthermore, I shall protect the freedom and rights of all citizens. I swear that I shall employ any and all means placed at my disposal by law to preserve and promote the wellbeing and prosperity of all citizens of the United Earth Alliance as is incumbent upon a good and faithful Sovereign. So help me God!”

Then I kneel at an altar before the archbishop and am anointed with holy oil in the shape of a cross. He begins by dabbing it at the base of my throat, then at the top of my breasts and finally, from shoulder to shoulder as he recites a prayer.

The prayer he recites is Dei Filius, so if you’re curious, you can look it up.

After the prayer, several other priests approach while Anne cleans off the oil.

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One of the priests offers the archbishop a much more embellished version of my tiara. First, he removes mine and hands it to the priest. He then takes my new crown and places it upon my head. Next, he accepts the sceptre of state, which is rather ornate, being encrusted with sapphires, rubies, emeralds along with other gems and topped with a large blue diamond, and lays it along my left forearm, he again turns to accept the ring of state from another priest, which is placed on the ring finger of my right hand.

Once he has it on my finger, he stands and states, “May God crown you with a crown of glory and righteousness, that having a right faith and manifold fruit of good works, you may obtain the crown of an everlasting kingdom by the gift of he whose kingdom endureth forever.”

Everyone says, “Amen.”

Rising from my position, Anne and George come forward, escort me back to the chair, and George hands me into it.

Now, the part I requested be changed is paying homage. If I hadn’t, it would have literally taken hours for all the guests to do it. Instead, it’s merely the Archbishop, George and Anne.

Basically, they kneel before me and say, ‘I, blah, blah of blah, will be faithful and true, and faith and truth will bear unto you, our Sovereign, Queen Sora, and unto your heirs and successors according to law. So help me God.’

Normally, once that is done, I would exit, and we would make our way back to Buckingham Palace. However, I have something I would like to say, not only to the guests, but to everyone watching this.

So, I stand up, raise my voice and begin, “I never asked to be a Queen or even the leader of any nation. Instead, it was asked of me many times before I finally accepted. I’m still young and inexperienced when it comes to governing. Therefore, I’ve already asked congress to appoint King George and Queen Anne as my regents and guides, and I’m grateful that they agreed. There’s simply no way that I could do this alone.

“I shall always work throughout my Reign, to uphold our constitution and to advance the happiness, prosperity, and above all else, the safety of my citizens, wherever they may be in the world. Thankfully, I have two shining examples of service and devotion, King George and Queen Anne, to follow as I learn and grow into my role as your Queen.

“I shall be inspired by the loyalty and affection of those whose queen I have been called to be. I pray that God will help me discharge this heavy task that has been laid upon me so early in my life.”

I smile and shake my head slightly. “I truly don’t feel that I’m qualified for this, but as it has been pointed out to me so many times, no one ever really is.

“You may have noticed that I disappeared from public view for a while. I can now explain why. I have been traveling to the non-aligned nations of Earth along with other representatives in an attempt to bring them into the alliance. I’m happy to report that of the 89 non-aligned nations I spoke to, 77 have already agreed to join us. Nine are awaiting votes, and unfortunately, 2 refused. I have hopes that they will change their minds sooner rather than later.

“Of course, I haven’t discussed anything with China, nor will I. They have been barred from entering the alliance, but that can change, assuming they take the first steps at reconciliation with us. There will be much they have to do for that to happen. At present, how we proceed is up to them. They can choose to join the alliance without any demands and accept my rule as their Queen, or they can remain isolated and marginalized. That would impoverish not only themselves but their peoples, which we have no desire to see, and it is my fervent wish that they refuse to follow that path. I would much rather them join the rest of humanity as we take our rightful place amongst the stars.

“I thank all of you for attending today.”

Exiting Westminster Abbey, we board the waiting carriage and make our way back to Buckingham Palace.

Once there, Ryu, Chinatsu and I have to sit for our official portrait. Later that afternoon, the three of us went to the balcony for a parade by Alliance Armed Forces and a Flyby of a contingent of Alliance Airforce. That evening, a rather large fireworks display is held at Hyde Park in celebration. Personally, I think the whole thing is overblown, but then again, who am I to flout what has been tradition for hundreds of years.

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So, there are a few things I should explain. The current governments of the alliance are not going to disappear just because I have been crowned today. That would simply cause chaos since there are far too many issues that have to be taken up by the new government, and they have barely begun to get things started.

Basically, we have to integrate whatever form of social security and healthcare that countries currently use with the system that we will be putting in place.

This is especially hard for a country like the United States since their programs are massively in debt. After a long talk with Metis, I found out that what US citizens pay into their program far exceeds what they get back out of it, and the healthcare program as a whole is a complete disaster. Could you imagine paying into a retirement fund for 60 years and getting less out of it than what you paid in? Said fund would be out of business in short order. I’m sure we’ll find places that are even worse, but it still just about made my jaw hit the floor when Metis informed me that most of their senior citizens had to sign up for government assistance to even be able to survive.

There are several proposals to fix the problem, but the one I like the most is to subtract whatever has been paid out to retirees from what they paid in and have the remainder returned to them to invest however they see fit to see them through retirement. The same goes for those still working: what you’ve paid in, you get back. Now, that’s immediately going to put the crown in debt, but I would much rather see that than what is happening right now.

Healthcare is another sticky problem, for the moment anyway. I’m leaning towards a nationalized system like Japan uses, along with price controls for fees and medication. I say it’s an issue for the moment because I have to figure out how and when to offer the public the nanites that heal them and keep them from getting sick.

Why it’s such a sticky problem is clear if you look at the number of people employed in the healthcare industry. Can you imagine going to school to learn to be a doctor or nurse and then overnight being told, ‘Your services are no longer needed.’ Yep, not a great surprise for any of them. So, I imagine that the nanites will be gradually distributed to the population so that it’s not such a massive impact.

We’ll be abolishing most government agencies as they exist, although some agencies such as the US’s IRS will still be around, albeit much reduced in size since one of the first things we’ll be doing is reducing all fees and taxes across the board. From Metis’s investigations, tax rates for citizens are far too high, so we’ll be reducing taxes collected at the crown level to 15%. It may sound counterintuitive, but that will actually mean far more money for the crown since there will be no write offs or exemptions and taxes will be paid in the form of a consumption tax. So, if you spend $100, then you’ll pay $15.00 in taxes. I’m not sure how we’ll adjust it, but we’ll also be limiting the amount that local governments can tax you as well.

Police and judicial systems are an utter mess across the world from the reports that Metis has shown me. Can you believe that there are still nations that allow for beating the accused to elicit a confession? Or some that even allow the police to investigate themselves for any wrongdoing? How about prosecutors being free from any repercussions when they knowingly charge and put on trial someone who they know for a fact is innocent? Judges, well, let’s not even go there. Let’s just say that I’m inclined to replace all of them with AIs like Metis and be done with it.

This is just a small number of the things that have to be fixed. I swore that I would make people’s lives better, but just, wow, how did things get to be like this? I know that a lot of it is due to a lack of accountability, but that will be changing. One thing I will be setting up is a crown oversight committee for accountability. A simple word to wise: abuse your power or position and you will be going to prison for a long, long time. We have to gain the public’s trust back.

There’s so much more to talk about, but I’ll do that here and there as we go along.

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