KING CHARLES III: THE CORONATION EXCITEMENT IS PALPABLE IN UK
It is now just under a week to go until King Charles III and Queen Camilla’s coronation at Westminster Abbey. Kings and Queens have been crowned there for nearly 1000 years; 38 coronations have been performed there since 1066. The ceremony will be conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend Justin Welby. The Abbey is now closed to visitors and worshippers in preparation for the great event. The Church of England has compiled a little book of daily prayers, themes, and reflections for Christians to pray for the King and explore the traditions and symbolism of the service and to reflect on Jesus, the servant King.
Folks in Britain are enjoying the build-up to Saturday. Over the Coronation weekend, street parties are being planned nationwide, and the Big Lunch idea has taken off, bringing neighbours and communities together to share friendship, food, and fun. Their Majesties have devised a recipe for Coronation Quiche, made with eggs, spinach, broad beans, cheese, and tarragon, which will no doubt be the centrepiece of the lunches. A chocolate bust of King Charles has been made by Celebrations Chocolates, and a new waxwork of Queen Camilla has joined King Charles at Madame Tussauds, and a plethora of souvenirs, including Coronation mugs, plates, and knitted characters, have been on sale. New stamps and coins have been unveiled.
Meanwhile, the King and Queen Consort were busy with Anzac Day commemorations and visiting Liverpool Arena ahead of the Eurovision Song Contest.
The Yeoman Warders at the Tower of London are now sporting their new uniforms featuring the new King Charles III royal cypher. His Majesty, as the Head of the Armed Forces, accompanied by HM The Queen Consort, presented new Standards and Colours to the Royal Navy, the Life Guards of the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment, The King’s Company of the Grenadier Guards, and The King’s Colour Squadron of the Royal Air Force at Buckingham Palace. “Colours” are an ancient battlefield practice that served as rallying points on the battlefield.
On Saturday 6 May, Their Majesties will travel from Buckingham Palace in The King’s Procession to Westminster Abbey in the Diamond Jubilee State Coach, created in 2012 for Queen Elizabeth II’S Diamond Jubilee. This will be a relatively small procession accompanied by The Sovereign’s Escort of the Household Cavalry. After the Coronation, the procession will take the same route in reverse from Westminster Abbey to Buckingham Palace and will feature Armed Forces from across the Commonwealth and
the British Overseas Territories, and all Services of the UK’S Armed Forces. Their Majesties will travel
in the Gold State Coach, commissioned in 1760 by King George III to travel to the State Opening of Parliament
in 1762, and the coach has been used at every Coronation since William IV in 1831.
Sir Antonio Pappano, Music Director for the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, will conduct the coronation service at the Abbey. His Majesty The King has personally commissioned the new music and selected the musical program for the service. Six orchestral commissions, five choral commissions, and one organ commission have been specially composed for the occasion by British composers whose work includes classical, sacred, film, television, and musical theatre, including a new Coronation Anthem by Andrew Lloyd Webber, a Coronation March by Patrick Doyle, an organ solo, soprano and baritone solos, and the Royal Harpist from Wales will also perform. His Majesty has requested a tribute to his late father HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, thus Greek Orthodox music will feature in the service performed by the Byzantine Chant Ensemble.
During the service, the Archbishop of Canterbury will present a specially commissioned King James Bible to King Charles III, who will place his hand on it when he takes the Coronation Oath. Three copies have been produced; the two others will be placed in the Abbey and at Oxford University Press archives. St Edward’s Crown will be used to crown His Majesty The King according to tradition. The crown was made for King Charles II in 1661 and was worn by his mother Queen Elizabeth II at her Coronation in 1953. Queen Mary’s Crown has been chosen by The Queen Consort, marking the first instance in modern times of an existing crown being used for the Coronation of the Consort.
Apart from the Royal Family, the 2,000+ guest list consists of many foreign royals, mostly European but also King Tuheitia and Makau Ariki Atawhai, M ori royals from New Zealand, and King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and Queen Jetsun Pema of Bhutan. Members of Queen Camilla’s family, UK political leaders, British MPS and Peers, and Sinn Fein’s Northern Irish Leader Michelle O’neill, past Prime Ministers, and British nobility, foreign Heads of State including Han Zheng, the Chinese deputy President, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, and Sheik Hasina, Prime Minister of Bangladesh, religious representatives, celebrities including Bear Grylls, and members of the public and charitable organisations.
Following the Coronation, there is a concert in Windsor Great Park with Katy Perry topping the bill. Later on, The King will host three Coronation Garden Parties on the 3rd and 9th of May in the gardens of Buckingham Palace. Then, on 4th July, a garden party will be held at the Palace of Holyrood House in Edinburgh.