The combination of continuity and change has always been central to the genius of coronations, reassuring us that the past is being honoured, yet reaffirming the new order of things.
In history, there are disputes over interpretation, but there are also things that can be said, and others that cannot. By lumping Napoleon in with Stalin and Hitler, Ridley Scott has crossed a red line.
Those who are contemptuous of Christian civilisation continue their assault on our spiritual heritage. Defending it is becoming increasingly difficult to justify to those for whom erasing its traces from the public sphere has become a point of honour.
Our institutions of higher learning nevertheless reveal how, even within a formal meritocracy, entrenched privilege can co-exist with an appearance of fairness. When the lower rungs of the ladder are kicked away by those already on top, social mobility grinds to a halt and the meritocratic promise loses its capacity to inspire.
