The date has been set for the coronation of King Charles III, with Queen Consort Camilla also to be crowned in a ceremony set to follow all the traditional pageantry for anointing monarchs of the past 1000 years.
It will take place on Saturday, May 6, 2023, at London’s Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace said.
“The coronation will reflect the monarch’s role today and look towards the future while being rooted in longstanding traditions and pageantry,” the palace said in a statement on Wednesday.
Camilla will be the first Queen Consort crowned in Westminster in nearly a century, following the coronation of King George VI and his wife in 1937.
When the late Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation was held in 1953, Prince Philip was not crowned beside her.
Camilla will be crowned Queen at the same ceremony. Photo: Getty
The ceremony, a solemn and religious event that will be conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the spiritual head of the Anglican Communion, usually comes several months after the accession of a new monarch.
Kings and queens of England, and later Britain and the United Kingdom, have been crowned at Westminster Abbey since William the Conqueror in 1066.
King George’s wife, Queen Elizabeth – later the Queen Mother – was bequeathed a bespoke crown featuring 2,800 diamonds.
The crown Of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother (1937). Photo: Getty
UK media have reported that the King wants to scale down some of the customary grandeur around the coronation, mindful that it would come as Britain grapples with a cost-of-living crisis.
The palace said it would maintain the “core elements” of the traditional ceremony “while recognising the spirit of our times”.
The King, 73, is the 41st monarch in a line that traces its origins back to William, and he will be the oldest to be crowned.
His mother, who died aged 96 at her Scottish holiday home, holds the record for the longest reign at 70 years.
Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh on the day of their coronation, Buckingham Palace, 1953.
Elizabeth’s coronation as queen on June 2, 1953, was the first to be televised and was regarded as a milestone in modernising the monarchy, a move that her husband Prince Philip was said to have pushed for strongly.
The Abbey, whose royal links are extensive, was the setting for Elizabeth’s funeral service and it was also where the King’s son and now heir to the throne, Prince William, married his wife Kate Middleton.
May 6 is also the birthday of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s son Archie Mountbatten-Windsor – the King’s grandson. He will turn four that day.
Guest lists have yet to be confirmed for the spectacle, including whether or not Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will be invited or be able to travel from the US to attend.
The date was also the wedding anniversary of the late Queen’s sister, Princess Margaret.
Charles is King and head of state not only of the United Kingdom but of 14 other realms, including Australia, Canada, Jamaica, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.
– with AAP
