Tomorrow’s coronation ceremony of King Charles III, will be the first of its kind in 70 years, after the 1953 Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. King Charles III ascended the throne last year, after the passing on of the Queen Elizabeth II, her mother.
The ceremony will take place on 6 May at Westminster Abbey. The King, who will be crowned alongside Camilla, the Queen Consort, will be the 40th reigning monarch to be crowned there since 1066. The beauty and formality of the day, will include customs dating back over 1,000 years.
The formal celebrations will begin with a parade from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey, with viewing areas opening at 06:00 BST. Outside Buckingham Palace, stands for invited guests, including veterans of the armed forces and NHS and social care staff, have been erected. On Saturday morning, just under 200 members of the armed forces, the majority of whom are from the Sovereign’s Escort of the Household Cavalry, will begin to gather.
At 10:20 a.m. BST, the procession will leave Buckingham Palace and proceed along the mall to Trafalgar Square, then down Whitehall and Parliament Street, before turning into Parliament Square and Broad Sanctuary to approach the Great West Door of Westminster Abbey.
King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla will travel in the Diamond Jubilee State Coach rather than the older, more uncomfortable Gold State Coach, in a break with tradition.
The King will enter through the Great West Door and proceed through the nave until he reaches the central space in the abbey. Also, the King will be preceded by the procession of faith leaders and representatives, as well as delegations from some Commonwealth countries who will carry their own flags and be accompanied by governors general and prime ministers. These will include UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who will also read later in the ceremony.
The service will begin at 11:00 a.m. and will be mixed with music chosen by the King, including 12 newly composed works, including one by Andrew Lloyd Webber, and Greek Orthodox music in memory of the King’s father, Prince Philip.
Prince George, the King’s grandson, will be among the pages at Westminster Abbey, as will Camilla’s grandchildren Lola, Eliza, Gus, Louis, and Freddy. Some of people taking part in the procession within the abbey will carry the regalia ahead of the King, with the majority of the things being deposited on the altar until they are needed in the ceremony.
Stage one of the ceremony begins with the recognition of the King’s Presence. The presentation of King Charles to “the people” is a rite that dates back to Anglo-Saxon times. Standing behind the 700-year-old Coronation Chair, the King will be proclaimed the “undoubted King” before the assembly is asked to express their homage and duty.
The first affirmation will be made by Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, but subsequent declarations will be made for the first time by the Lady of the Garter and Lady of the Thistle, representing the oldest orders of chivalry in England and Scotland, accordingly and a George Cross holder from the armed forces. After each acknowledgement, the congregation will yell “God Save the King,” and trumpets will sound.
Stage two of the program will be marked by the swearing of oath. Just before the oath, the Archbishop of Canterbury will acknowledge the diversity of faiths practiced in the United Kingdom by stating that the Church of England “will seek to foster an environment in which people of all faiths may live freely.”
The archbishop will next administer the Coronation Oath, which is required by law. He will ask King Charles to affirm that he will maintain the law and the Church of England during his reign, and the King will commit to “perform and keep” those promises by placing his hand on the Holy Gospel. The King will also take the Accession Declaration Oath, which states that he is a “faithful Protestant.”
The anointing of the King emphasize stage three of the coronation ceremony. The King’s ceremonial robe will be removed, and he will sit in the Coronation Chair to be anointed, emphasizing the sovereign’s spiritual standing as head of the Church of England.
Before anointing the King in the shape of a cross on his head, breast, and hands, the archbishop will pour special oil from the Ampulla – a gold flask – onto the Coronation Spoon.
The Ampulla was created for Charles II’s coronation, but its shape is reminiscent of an older version and a tale in which the Virgin Mary appeared to St Thomas a Becket in the 12th Century and gave him a golden eagle from which future kings of England would be anointed.
Stage four of the ceremony is the investiture. This is the moment that the King will wear St Edward’s Crown for the first time in his life. The crown was named after an Older Form, created for the Anglo-Saxon Monarch and Saint, Edward the Confessor, and supposed to have been worn at coronations after 1220 until Cromwell had it melted down. It was created for King Charles II, who desired a crown identical to but larger than the one worn by Edward.
Stage five and the final part of the coronation, is the enthronement of the king. The King will seize the throne in the ceremony’s concluding act. The archbishop, bishops, and other peers of the realm may even raise him into it. Traditionally, a series of royals and peers would have kneeled before the new king, swore loyalty, and kissed his right hand.
Prince William, on the other hand, will be the sole Royal Duke to kneel and pay reverence to King Charles. Instead of peers, the archbishop will invite individuals in the abbey, as well as those watching and listening at home, to pledge allegiance in what organizers describe a “new and significant moment in the tradition of the coronation.”
The Queen Consort
Following the homage, Queen Camilla will be anointed, crowned, and enthroned in a less formal ceremony, though she will not be required to take an oath.
She will be crowned with Queen Mary’s Crown, which was originally designed for Queen Mary’s coronation alongside George V, but has been changed to remove some of the arches and replace them with Cullinan III, IV, and V diamonds.
The final part of the service, will see the King and Queen taking Holy Communion, the principal act of worship of the Christian church. The King and Queen Consort will step down from their thrones and enter St Edward’s Chapel behind the high altar, where Charles will remove St Edward’s Crown and replace it with the Imperial State Crown before continuing the procession out of the abbey as the national anthem plays.
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