Using British blooms from across the Commonwealth, this wreath—a commemoration of beginnings and continuing tradition—is dominated, in royal purple, by the coronation of King Charles III. Witnessed globally by 400 million worldwide, protested locally by anti-monarchists, a new era is ushered in. 

It was a season of extremities. We see the stories of all of life’s passages: the celebrations (Liverpool hosts Eurovision for Kiev, Man City FA win “the treble”), the tragedies (600 migrants lose their lives in search of better ones in the UK, India’s deadliest train crash in 20 years, a tornado cuts a path of destruction in Missisppi), the firsts (a baby is born in the UK with the DNA of 3 people, a rocket is launched for Jupiter, ex-President Donald Trump is indicted) and the ends (tributes for Mary Quant, Tina Turner, Glenda Jackson, and national treasure Paul O’Grady). 

Even when we feel as though the world is in peril (world economy falls, the climate crises urgent last warnings, the threat of AI), the appearance of bumblebees, new buds and shoots (including the story of the tortoise, Mr Pickles, becoming a first-time dad at the age of 90) reminds us that life goes on.