Buckingham Palace has this week announced the date for King Charles III’s coronation, with Saturday May 6, 2023, set aside for the occasion.
The coronation will take place at Westminster Abbey and will be the first since June 1953, the last being that of the late Queen Elizabeth II.
Charles, then a four-year-old boy, was among the guests at his mother’s coronation. By the time of his own coronation King Charles III will be 74, which will see him become the oldest new monarch to be crowned.
The crowning of King Charles III, which will also see his wife Queen Consort Camilla crowned alongside him, is likely to be a smaller and more diverse occasion than that of the late Queen, in respect of contemporary times and circumstances.
Temporary stands were erected inside Westminster Abbey to make room for 8,000 guests as Queen Elizabeth II was crowned, however the attendance of the coronation of her son is likely to be capped at the Abbey’s current capacity of 2,200.
Hundreds of millions around the world are likely to tune into the May 6 coronation via TV, in what will be the second UK coronation to be televised. The first, that of the late Queen, was watched by an audience of 20 million in the UK.
The Archbishop of Canterbury will anoint Charles as the UK sovereign and place the St Edward’s Crown upon his head as part of the ritual.
The Palace has said that the ceremony will include both ancient and modern elements, which “reflect the monarch’s role today and look towards the future” while also remaining true to “longstanding traditions and pageantry”.
One of the traditions that will be retained will see King Charles III receive the royal orb, sceptre and ring as part of the ceremony, and there could also be a procession through the streets of London with the monarch riding in the Gold State Coach as has been the case in the past.
Another tradition that might continue is that of the monarch appearing on the balcony of Buckingham Palace to greet the people after the coronation has taken place.
With a bank holiday already scheduled on Monday May 1 leading up to the coronation, it is unclear at this stage as to whether an additional bank holiday will be added or moved to the weekend of the ceremony.
Photo by Korona Lacasse on Wikimedia Commons
