Nobody wanted Liz Truss

One of the most important ingredients in the oil used to anoint King Charles during his coronation is becoming a bit of an issue – and it may give us a signal as to what sort of monarchy lies in wait for us. Aside from cinnamon and ambergris, the oil also includes musk from the Ethiopian civet cat, obtained through what protestors suggest is a cruel process. The oversized weasel is constrained in a tight cage made of twigs and its bum is forced out of a hole at the back of a cage, whereupon skilled Ethiopian musk gatherers squeeze the animal’s perineal glands, reaping a rich harvest of noisome oil and making the civet cat wish that it had been born in, say, Denmark.

The question is: will our new King, for the sake of tradition and continuity, accede to this procedure or, as a concerned and modern monarch, will he do something different? Perhaps he will talk to the civet cat and persuade it to donate some of its valuable musk in a democratic and consensual manner.