Ore 15:30 – Greeting from the royal family lined up from the balcony of Buckingham Palace, to seal today’s coronation of Charles and Camilla. The King and Queen came out to greet thousands upon thousands of people who thronged in front of the palace and along the Mall despite a typically heavier rain. With the Sovereigns, Princes of Wales, William and Kate, their children and other active members of the House of Windsor. Absent instead, as expected, the rebel prince Harry, William’s younger brother. The RAF overflight was limited to a few helicopters and the Red Arrows aerobatic team due to bad weather.
Coronation of Charles III, the Royal Family on the balcony of Buckingham Palace
2.56 pm – King Charles III and Queen Camilla, now officially crowned sovereigns, have arrived at Buckingham Palace. The royal carriage has arrived at the Quadrilatero del Palazzo, followed by the royal procession. The new monarch is now expected to greet waiting crowds on the Mall from the royal balcony of Buckingham Palace, a custom that started with the coronation of Edward VII in 1902
14.10 – King Charles III and Queen Camilla left Westminster Abbey, London, to return to Buckingham Palace after the solemn coronation rite. The liturgy lasted about 2 hours in all, shorter than the previous one: the coronation in 1953, 70 years ago, of Queen Elizabeth II, mother of Charles, who died 96 years old after a record reign last 8 September. The sovereigns were accompanied at the exit by the choral singing of the national anthem (God Save the King), as well as the sound of the celebratory anthem composed ad hoc for today’s event by Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber, legendary author of renowned musicals world, after the various sacred hymns that punctuated the religious rite: of both Anglican, Latin and Greek-Orthodox tradition in memory of the origins of Prince Philip, the late father of the king. At the entrance, Charles – the oldest monarch ever crowned on the British island – received greetings and blessings, for the first time in national history, also from religious leaders of non-Christian faiths practiced in the Kingdom: one Muslim, one Jew , one Hindu, one Buddhist, one Sikh. The King and Queen then took their seats in the Gold State Coach, an ancient gilded carriage built in 1762 and used in all British coronations from 1831 onwards. Behind them a second carriage carrying the heir to the throne William, Prince of Wales, his wife Kate and their three children. The procession of the parade, flanked amid echoes of bells and military marches by the escort of honor of thousands of guards in full uniform, thus set off – greeted by wings of the crowd lined up along the entire route with shouts and waving flags – on the way back to the palace. Where in the early afternoon the traditional exit on the balcony of the Royal Family is foreseen, to greet the subjects, against the background of cannon salutes, parades of departments of honor and the expected passage over the (grey) sky of London of the Red Arrows, the RAF aerobatic air patrol.
Coronation of Charles III, the arrival of William and Kate at Westminster
Ore 14:07 – Crowds lined the Mall in London cheered the formal coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla at Westminster Abbey with applause and chants of ‘God Save the King’ as the royal procession passed towards Buckingham Palace. Meanwhile at Tower Bridge, as in other places in the United Kingdom, the cannon salutes rang out to celebrate the historic moment. The central streets of the capital are dominated by the red, white and blue colors of the Union Jack: many cheering subjects waving flags and wearing all kinds of clothes, from t-shirts to raincoats as well as many gadgets, with national colors, even painted on the face. Among them Dave Giddings, who came from Scotland with his wife and son for the occasion: “We had to be there, it’s an important thing for the future,” said the 41-year-old, showing off a fake gold crown and sunglasses with the ‘unfailing Union Jack. Yesterday’s torrential downpours failed to dampen spirits, with bad weather forecast for the whole day today, indeed, many speak of the “good atmosphere”. Like Caryl Hall, 55, wrapped in a flag with a plastic crown on her head, who says this is a “friendship, happy and patriotic” time.
1.19pm – The Prince of Wales William performed the ritual of genuflection and submission before King Charles III after the sovereign’s formal coronation ritual at Westminster Abbey. The final moment of the proclamation in the past involved the genuflection of those present before the incoming monarch but it has been streamlined. The heir to the throne knelt down and swore the oath promising “loyalty, faith and truth” to the sovereign before performing the ritual kiss on the cheek.
Ore 13:18 – The 74-year-old sovereign appeared very understood in the moment, and at times moved. The rite respected the various passages of a centuries-old tradition, with some multi-denominational innovations. Charles also smiled at his eldest son, Prince William, who in the heir to the throne helped him put on the stole and then close the hook of the so-called royal Supertunic. He then received insignia and symbolic clothing from dignitaries and representatives of the major non-Christian communities of the Kingdom (Muslim, Jewish, Hindu and Sikh). Among the gifts, the ritual sword, the orb (golden globe), as well as the two sceptres with the cross and the dove that the king held in his hands even after the coronation – a plastic image of monarchic symbology – seated with the crown on the ancient medieval throne of Saint Edward placed on the Scottish Stone of Destiny above the Cosmati Floor (a work created in Westminster Abbey by Roman craftsmen from the 1200s).
King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla arrive at Westminster
1.04pm – King Charles III has been formally crowned at Westminster Abbey with the placing of the Crown of St Edward the Confessor on his head. The act took place after the religious anointing with the holy oil of the sovereign (kneeling behind a screen) and the solemn oath in the hands of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, of fidelity to the laws of the Kingdom, to the Church of England” and his “Protestant faith”. But also of respect for the beliefs of all his subjects. Before taking the oath, the monarch had been “presented” by various heralds to the assembly, from which the invocation “God Save the King Charles”.
12:16 – The solemn entry of the sovereigns into the abbey was preceded by the parade of the royal insignia and the ‘regalia’, the symbols of the ceremony: the two crowns (in particular that of St Edward used only on this occasion ), the two sceptres, the globe, and the ritual sword held for the first time by a woman, Minister Penny Mordaunt, as Lord President of Council within the current Tory government. Queen Camilla advanced down the aisle with the pages holding up the tails of her long cloak, followed by King Charles III. Their procession was accompanied by the singing of the ‘vivat’ in Latin along with other religious hymns.
The three crowns worn during the ceremony
12:11 – “I’m here to serve, not to be served”: this is the ritual formula with which King Charles replied, invoking the example of “the King of Kings”, Jesus Christ, responded to the child in the choir of the Westminster Abbey which welcomed him for the solemn coronation liturgy. It was therefore the archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, primate of the Anglican Church and officiant called to preside over the rite, who introduced the religious ceremony with a short prayer accompanied by an appeal to Christian fraternity, mutual support among the faithful and between all people of good will.
Coronation of Charles III, the arrival of guests at Westminster Abbey
Ore 11:54 – King Charles III and Queen Camilla have reached Westminster Abbey for the solemn coronation ceremony. To receive them at the entrance the heir to the throne William, Prince of Wales, his consort Kate, and their children George (second in the line of succession), Charlotte and Louise. The entrance of the sovereigns into the temple to the sound of the trumpets of honor marks the start of the liturgy which seals the event.
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Ore 11:38 – The procession took the Vialone del Mall, amidst the greetings and shouts of two wings of the crowd. The road is flagged with British banners of the Union Jack, interspersed here and there with the flags of the other 14 Commonwealth countries which are still institutionally linked to the crown as Realms and of which the sovereign therefore remains head of state (Canada, Australia, New Zealand , Jamaica and others). The king and queen are aboard a more modern and comfortable ceremonial carriage – with hydraulic suspension and air conditioning – compared to the eighteenth-century Gold State Coach which will take them back to the palace at the end of the ceremony. Both wear the royal cloak, Charles over a full military uniform and salute the people. Alongside them are, according to custom, military units of the Royal Guard on horseback, in historical parade uniform. In the background, the notes of the British anthem, God Save the King, echo, the song of which is sung to applause by many of those present.
Ore 11:26 – King Charles III and Queen Camilla have left Buckingham Palace, officially kicking off the day that will culminate in their formal coronation at Westminster Abbey, London.
Ore 11:03 – No more limiting references to the role of “queen consort”, from today Camilla also officially becomes “Her Majesty the Queen”. And that’s that. This is certified by the cover of the Order of Service released by Buckingham Palace before the start of the ceremony that will see her formally crowned alongside King Charles in Westminster Abbey. In fact, the document refers to the “Coronation of Their Majesties King Charles III and Queen Camilla”. The indication “queen consort” had been used for Camilla in the first months after the couple’s accession to the throne, following the death of Queen Elizabeth II on 8 September 2022: in some way as a form of respect to avoid overlapping with the title of queen tout court, linked for over 70 years to the figure of the deceased monarch. All female consorts of kings – in the history of the British monarchy and otherwise – are also traditionally entitled to the title of queen.
Ore 10:30 – Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla have arrived at Buckingham Palace, from where the procession to Wasminster Abbey for the coronation will later depart. The king was photographed inside the car still dressed in a dark suit, white shirt and blue tie with white elements. The photos are published on the BBC website.
Ore 10:26 – Various ministers of Rishi Sunak’s government, the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, the leader of the Labor opposition, Keir Starmer, arrived in Westminster to attend the coronation ceremony of King Charles III. The ministers, who arrived in a group, are those for Defence, Ben Wallace, Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden, Deputy Interior Minister, Tom Tugendhat, for Industry and Commerce, Kemi Badenoch. The BBC writes it.
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