Which is the Heavier, the Crown

Or the Kings Head?

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

“Uneasy is the head that wears a crown” is a quote from Shakespeare’s Henry 1V Part 2. It means those who bear heavy responsibility have a hard time.

It has now morphed into “Heavy is the head that wears a crown”, but it is still meant to convey that people with a lot of responsibilities find it difficult to chill out. The weights of their responsibilities outweigh the weight of the crown on their head.

Well, that may have been true in Shakespeare’s, day but crowns have changed over the centuries.

This was brought home to me when I saw King Charles on T.V. He was in parliament reading the Kings speech. Although it wasn’t his speech, it was written by someone from the government.

They call it the Kings Speech because if it proves unpopular, the King gets the blame; I think that’s how it works. 🙄

Anyway, there he was reading whose ever speech it was with his head bent forward as if he was struggling to read. But I don’t think he was finding it hard to read, it was the weight of all the diamonds gold silver or whatever else goes into the crown on his head, causing him to bend his neck and lean forward as if he was short sighted.

That is why I believe heavy is the crown that rests on the royal bonce. It may have been different in Henry 1V’s day. Then crowns were lighter and more user friendly and kings would wear them in battle.

Can you imagine our king riding into battle with the current crown on his noggin?

He wouldn’t be able keep on his horse or weald a sword because he would need both hands to hold his crown on the royal head.

Because I think not only is it too heavy, it is also too small. Perhaps the royal craniums have swollen over the years; who knows?

Of course, I don’t know if the crown is heavy enough make it hard for the king to hold his head up, I can’t tell just by looking at it on the television. But what I can see by watching royalty wearing it is, and this is just my opinion, (I have to say this to protect myself from all the royalist,) I not only think the crown looks a bit too small, but it also looks a bit silly.

This occurred to me when I watched the coronation and saw the newly crowned king and Queen waving to the crowd from the balcony at Buckingham Palace. Both were wearing their respective head gear, and they made me think of rather ornate salt and pepper shakers; the ones where you twist the top and the condiments get sprinkled over your dinner.

Of course, the crowns are only worn on state occasions such as the state opening of parliament, but these occasions are the very times crowns are not required, they really are there just for show or showing off.

I know some people will say it is part of the pageantry and history, but isn’t horse drawn coaches and the household Calvary all dressed in their finery, golden breast plate and all enough pomp and pageantry?

Why make the king wear a heavy crown that doesn’t fit and weighs his head down. I mean everybody knows who he is. They don’t need a crown to make him stand out.

Why not give the poor bloke a break. If he must have a crown, can’t we give him a simple one like the kings of the past used to wear; or a paper one like you get from Christmas crackers? 😅

Photo by Sarah Penney on Unsplash

Better still, what about just a golden name tag attached to the royal robes saying, “I am the King”?

That would take the weight off of his head and let everyone know that Charles is now the king and not Elvis Presley, (surely no one still believes that; do they? 😃)

Thanks for reading.

©Barry Robinson 2026