1953 v 2023 What stays the same and what changes

FOR those who remember the Queen’s 1953 Coronation, the service to crown King Charles III will contain notable differences.

Buckingham Palace has stated that while the ceremony will be rooted in traditions and pageantry, it will also reflect the monarch’s role today and into the future.

The Coronation will be limited to 2,000 guests for health and safety reasons – in contrast to the 8,000 dignitaries from 129 nations who squeezed into Westminster Abbey in 1953.

The key elements of the ceremony will be the same, but will be watched in many more ways. An estimated 27 million people in the UK saw the 1953 pageant on black and white television, with 11 million tuning in on the radio. But Charles’s Coronation will be seen across the globe on mobile phones, computers and other devices, with an audience of many more millions.

The ceremony is expected to be shorter than the late Queen’s, running to around two hours rather than three, and of the dukes only Prince William, as Prince of Wales, is expected to carry out the traditional gesture of kneeling and swearing allegiance.

The lengthy Court of Claims, where nobles had to prove their right to undertake a certain service during the ceremony, could be reduced to an administrative exercise with an exchange of letters.

The slimmed down guest list means that, politically, only senior Cabinet ministers, Privy Councillors and opposition leaders are likely to be in attendance.

King Charles is reportedly preparing to swap the stockings and breeches worn by his male predecessors for a military uniform, possibly that of Admiral of the Fleet, which he wore for the State Opening of Parliament last May.