King Charles III Coronation: Everything We Know So Far as UK Crowns its First King in 86 Years

The UK awaits for the first coronation to take place in 70 years as Charles III will be crowned king in an elaborate Christian ceremony. The ceremony which is steeped in solemn ritual represents more than a millennium of history.

Charles III is the first British king to be crowned since 1937. The last king to be crowned was his grandfather King George VI. Charles became the king after the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, last September.

The coronation ceremony will also witness the coronation of Charles’s second wife Camilla as queen. Both of them will be crowned at Westminster Abbey in London.

However, the coronation ceremony this time is different from the previous ones as women bishops, minority faith leaders and a more diverse and representative guest list of British society will be present for the historic occasion.

King Charles III, who has advocated for environmentalism and ills of climate change, will introduce new customs such as vegan anointing oil and recycled ceremonial garb to mark his dedication to sustainability and biodiversity.

Speaking to news agency AFP, Earl Marshal, Duke of Norfolk Edward Fitzalan-Howard, said it was “a proud moment” in British history.

“During the coronation, the king will swear before God and the nation to serve our country as head of state, upholding our laws and maintaining justice for all,” Edward Fitzalan-Howard was quoted as saying by the AFP.

However, not all are happy. Republicans and anti-monarchists have questioned the ceremony itself and said such events have no place in the modern society. The Guardian in a report said that the police have warned that there will be less tolerance for such anti-monarchy protests on coronation day.

Not much can be done about the Republican sentiments rising in the 14 Commonwealth countries outside the UK. Jamaica, Belize, Australia and New Zealand have expressed their desire to cast their identity as Commonwealth Nations aside and emerge as Republic, even as some of their heads of states are expected to be in attendance on May 6.

“Jamaica in Jamaican hands. Time to say goodbye,” Marlene Malahoo Forte, the Caribbean nation’s minister for legal and constitutional affairs was quoted as saying by Sky News.

In the UK, young Britons also feel that they cannot relate to the event.

Despite these protests, many across the world are still interested in seeing the coronation, at least on television sets. For a large section of the young population, the concept of coronation of a king is alien to them.

The presidents of France and Germany and senior EU leaders will be among the 2,300 guests attending, along with global royalty.

There will be an opulent display of jewels, crowns and gilded coaches. This, however, has angered some Britons as they reel under a cost-of-living crisis. The fact that the entire event will cost above $126 million has angered taxpayers.

“A national occasion like this, a great state occasion, does attract huge global interest that more than repays the expenditure that goes with it,” the Buckingham Palace defended.

UKHospitality, a trade body, said that the weekend could generate £350 million for the hospitality industry but detractors continue to question whether a lavish ceremony is needed.

The pageant will feature around 7,000 military personnel — from mounted troops to marching bands — taking part in a parade rehearsed with minute precision.

Charles and Camilla will travel from Buckingham Palace in the Diamond Jubilee State Coach, then back along the same route in the older Gold State Coach after the two-hour service at the abbey.

At the palace, they will take a salute from members of the armed forces, then watch a ceremonial fly-past from the balcony with other members of the royal family.

(with inputs from AFP)

Read all the Latest News here