Chapter 220: Chapter 207: Coronation Ceremony and Shipbuilding n
While the shipbuilding experts were busily exploring the strategy cruisers that Arthur had proposed, Arthur himself was busy preparing for his own coronation ceremony.
Previously, when he became the Duke of Australia, due to Arthur being far away in the British Empire, and the recent assassination attempt on Duke Arthur at the time, a coronation ceremony was not held. Instead, a banquet was held with members of the royal family and Queen Victoria, and the nation was informed.
Now that he has be the king of Audsia and is the first king, it is necessary to hold a grand coronation ceremony, allowing Australians and New Zenders to participate.
There’s good news, after more than three years of construction, the Sydney Pce can now officially be used.
Arthur scheduled the coronation ceremony for October, primarily to hold this grand ceremony at the new Sydney Pce.
After more than six years of lengthy development, Austrsia also needs to gain more prestige and influence in the internationalmunity.
Therefore, for Arthur’s coronation ceremony, the Australian Government invited almost all independent nations in the world, all monarchical states in Europe are on the invite list.
Naturally, there was no need to discuss the powerful nations. Even on the distant shore of the Pacific, the United States received an invitation from Austrsia.
After the powers such as the German Empire, the Tsardom of Russia, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the British Empire, and so on, agreed to Austrsia’s invitation one after another, the major monarchical countries in Europe also responded quickly, expressing that they would send royal family members to attend the coronation ceremony.
This also signifies that the Kingdom of Austrsia has been widely recognized by the world, and Arthur’s reign has received approval from the European nobility.<div>
On October 11, 1906, Arthur’s coronation ceremony officially began.
The real coronation ceremony was held privately, and those who could watch were mostly nobles from various countries and high-ranking officials from Australia.
In order to demonstrate rule byw, Arthur specifically invited the Archbishop of the Church of Ennd, the Archbishop of Canterbury, to crown Arthur.
Unbeknownst to himself, Arthur had umted many titles. Not only was he crowned as the King of Austrsia, he also had two dukedom titles for Australia and New Zend.
After receiving a series of blessings from the Archbishop of Canterbury, Arthur sessfully donned the crown, officially bing the first king of Austrsia.
At the same time as Arthur was crowned, around the square outside, a total of ten guns were fired in celebration. This number represents the 10 administrative regions of Austrsia, including the Capital Territory and the New Guinea Colony.
After that, all the people present moved outside to the square, where Arthur would read his coronation deration. Then, led by the Prime Minister, government officials and MPs of the Kingdom of Austrsia would swear allegiance to Arthur together.
Because this part of the ceremony was held outside in the square, the reaction of the crowd in the square became very important.
If the crowd could give a good response, or even pledge allegiance along with these officials, then this would be a good tale of a monarchy’s coronation.
But if the crowd in the square did not have much of a response, this would be an embarrassing coronation.
Fortunately, Arthur was confident in his civilian support rate, and the second scenario would absolutely not happen in Austrsia.
“Members of Parliament,dies, and gentlemen. I am pleased to be the ruler of this great nation in front of all of you.” Arthur, wearing a crown carefully designed by his personal jeweller, walked to the already prepared loudspeaker with a smile on his face, and said with augh.
“Austrsia is a great kingdom formed by Australia and New Zend, bearing the great mission and goal of the rise of Australia and New Zend together. I keenly realize the responsibilities and heavy duties that this goal ces on me, and I will do my utmost to fulfil these responsibilities and goals with the support of all MPs, all government officers, and all the citizens of the kingdom, and guide Austrsia towards harmonious prosperity.”
“I, Arthur, King of Austrsia, Duke of Australia and New Zend and Protector of New Guinea, promise to all my subjects that I will uphold the interests of all kingdoms and territories and cherish all the citizens of the kingdoms and territories. I, along with my MPs, officers, and loyal soldiers, will defend this country and all its citizens until thest moment. Long live Austrsia! Long live Saxe-Coburg-Gotha!”
The fact proves that Australian civilians are still very easy to please. After Arthur personally promised to defend the country and its citizens, cheers and shouts from all Australians and New Zenders filled the square.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om
“May God witness, I will protect the interests of every Austrsian citizen as King of Austrsia, even if it costs a heavy price. May God bless me to faithfully fulfill my promise, long live Austrsia!”
Arthur’s coronation promation was, in fact, not at all lengthy, spanning over ten minutes in actual speech time.
Yet, what Arthur voiced was precisely what the people of Austrsia wished to hear. Who wouldn’t want a monarch that genuinely cares about the interests of the people?
Indeed, it is even more critical considering Arthur had already demonstrated through his deeds that his words are not empty promises, butmitments he intends to fulfill.<div>
No matter what the nobility and officials of other countries may think, the people of Austrsia were extremely content. They pledged loyalty to their young king and struggled for the dream of Austrsia’s rise, even willing toy down their lives.
After the promation wasplete, the pledge of loyalty to Arthur by Austrsian parliamentarians and officials followed.
The crowd pledging their loyalty included all members of the Royal Parliament and the House of Representatives, and even the State Parliament members of each state.
Of course, in reality, the state parliament members did not have the privilege toe forward to take the oath personally, but they had to stand below the stage and take the pledge with the rest of the parliament members on stage.<div>
This instance portrays the strength of the monarchy in Austrsia. Be it parliament members or officials; their primary loyalty lies with Arthur.
At themencement of the loyalty pledge, foreign guests saw for the first time the extent of Arthur’s support in Australia.
Keep in mind that the crowd surrounding the square almost exceeded eighty thousand. Factoring in those outside the square, the total count might even break through a hundred thousand.
However, most people present were taking the oath, expressing their loyalty and approval for this young king.
A scene like this one isn’t often seen in many European countries, even in authoritarian countries like the Russian Empire, not even when artificially created.
Even though Austrsia’s poption is currently not thatrge, the disyed potential has already exceeded what their poption size would typically have, causing many European countries to reconsider the rising power of Austrsia.
Throughout the entire oath-taking segment, Arthur sat solemnly on the throne. The object of the oath gradually transitioned from Austrsian officials and parliament members to all present Austrsians.
“This will be a terrifying country!” eximed a noble from a small European monarchial country, stupefied and inevitably verbalizing his apprehension after a while.
His remarks were met with endorsement from many, as Austrsia, with just a poption of over six million, already disyed astonishing potential.
And if Austrsia’s poption operates on a scale of tens of millions or even hundreds of millions? Could this be the advent of an ind nation challenging the status of the great powers?
After the oath-taking segment concluded, a significant portion of the coronation ceremony had transpired.
ording to European tradition, all that would remain would be an expansive banquet for foreign guests in the evening.
This grand banquet facilitates the new monarch in expanding their foreign rtions, forging better ties with nobility and rulers of other nations.<div>
Arthur, of course, had this in mind and nned to host an extravagant celebratory banquet in the Sydney Pce.
But before that, Arthur believed it essential to let the atmosphere reach its climax at the coronation.
“Citizens, in this grand moment, I wish to represent the Austrsian Kingdom Government and announce a significant national decision,” Arthur remarked mysteriously from the stage after the oath-taking ceremony, rather than leading everyone back to the Sydney Pce for rest as nned.
Arthur’s words quickly caught the attention of all Australians and foreign guests. They all wanted to know what Arthur was to say and its potential impact.
“Citizens, Austrsia is an enormous nation spanning the entire Oceania, with Australia as its maind, New Zend—a collection ofrge and small inds, and several overseas inds and territories. To protect our interests in every territory and maintain Austrsia’s stability and peace, the Austrsian Cab Government has resolved to embark on a massive shipbuilding program over the next ten years. To secure our overseas interests with a sufficient fleet, Austrsia willunch at least two battleships, ten medium cruisers, and three other main warships in ten years, forming arge fleet with fiverge main warships, ten medium protective warships, and several dozen small cruising warships. This massive shipbuilding project will bepleted in ten years. To achieve this grand n, the Austrsian Government will utilize at least 50 million Australian dors, divided into several stages. Austrsia’s sea must be protected by Austrsia’s own strength, that’s a mandate for the rise of Austrsia. Nobody can harm the Australian people’s interests unless they can walk over the dead bodies and wreckage of Australian soldiers and fleets!”