Coronation of King Charles III
This is what we know about Charles III Coronation so far:
Date: 6th May 2023
Venue: Westminster Abbey.
Conducted by: Archbishop of Canterbury
Who: The king will be crowned alongside his Queen consort.
Details:
The Duke of Norfolk, Edward Fitzalan-Howard, is in charge of organising the coronation as hereditary Earl Marshal. A committee of privy counsellors will arrange the event.
As a state occasion, the coronation is paid for by the British government. For the first time, a Coronation Claims Office has been established within the Cabinet Office instead of the traditional Court of Claims to handle claims to perform a historic or ceremonial role at the coronation.
The official photographer of the coronation will be Hugo Burnand who was also the official photographer for Charles and Camilla’s wedding in 2005.
The invitation for the coronation was designed by Andrew Jamieson, a heraldic artist and manuscript illuminator, and features the couple’s coats of arms and a motif of the Green Man against a background of the emblematic flowers of the UK and a British wildflower meadow and wildlife.
The Kings Procession will take place in the modern Diamond Jubilee State Coach, drawn by six Windsor Greys & will depart Buckingham Palace arriving at Westminster Abbey at 1100 hrs. The Sovereign’s Escort of the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police will take part in the procession, which will go along The Mall, down Whitehall and along Parliament Street, and around the east and south sides of Parliament Square.
Faith leaders and representatives from the Jewish, Sunni and Shia Muslim, Sikh, Buddhist, Hindu, Jain, Bahai and Zoroastrian communities will form the first procession inside the abbey. They will be followed by ecumenical leaders and representatives from the Commonwealth realms, whose flags will be carried by national representatives accompanied by the governors general and prime ministers.
The King and Queen will then be accompanied by the Marquess of Anglesey, the Duke of Westminster, the Earl of Caledon and the Earl of Dundee, who will carry the Standards of the Quarterings of the Royal Arms and Standard of the Principality of Wales. Admiral Sir Tony Radakin and the Duke of Norfolk will also join them. The Coronation choir is expected to sing Hubert Parry’s I was glad and the Westminster scholars will chant “Vivat Regina Camilla” and “Vivat Rex Carolus” as the Royal procession make their way. The leading object for the procession within the abbey will be the newly made Cross of Wales, which includes relics of the True Cross gifted to the King by Pope Francis. Two maces, made between 1660 and 1695, and the Sword of State will be carried into the abbey before the King. Also carried into the abbey will be the Sword of Spiritual Justice, the Sword of Temporal Justice, the blunt Sword of Mercy, and St Edward’s Staff. At the King’s request, the sixth-century St Augustine Gospels will be carried in the procession as well.
King Charles will be attended by four pages of honour. They are Prince George of Wales, Lord Oliver Cholmondeley (son of the Marquess and Marchioness of Cholmondeley), Nicholas Barclay (grandson of Sarah Troughton), and Ralph Tollemache (son of the Hon. Edward Tollemache).
The ceremony is likely to take about 1.5 hours in front of ~3000 guests including many world leaders and foreign royals. The UK government decides the guest list as they’re footing the bill!
The ceremony will begin with the anointing of Charles, symbolising his spiritual entry into kingship, and then his crowning and enthronement, representing his assumption of temporal powers and responsibilities.
Camilla will be crowned in a shorter and simpler ceremony. She will also be attended by four pages of honour. They are her grandsons, Gus and Louis Lopes (sons of Laura Lopes) and Frederick Parker Bowles (son of Tom Parker Bowles), and her great-nephew, Arthur Elliot (son of Ben Elliot). Camilla will also be accompanied by two “ladies in attendance”: her sister, Annabel Elliot, and the Marchioness of Lansdowne. Camilla is expectedd to wear her Queen Elizabeth II’s Robe of State upon arrival and a newly created Robe of Estate upon departure, which features her cypher, bees, a beetle, and various plants and flowers, including lily of the valley, myrtle, delphinium, lady’s mantle, maidenhair fern, and cornflowers.
Several specially commissioned pieces of music will be performed. We’re expecting a coronation anthem from Andrew Lloyd Webber.
The King is expected to wear military dress & his grandfather George VI’s Robe of State upon arrival and Robe of Estate upon departure from the Abbey. During different parts of the ceremony he will don St Edward’s Crown and Imperial State Crown as well as carry the orb and sceptre.
William, Prince of Wales will pay homage and swear allegiance to the monarch.
The return ceremonial procession post coronation is expected to include the use of the 1762 Gold State Coach.
Catherine, Princess of Wales and Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis are expected to make an appearance, particularly with the King and Queen on the Buckingham Palace balcony. Which other Royals also stand on the balcony isn’t yet confirmed.
On Sunday May 7 a “Coronation Big Lunch” and “Coronation Concert” are planned.