With around a month until King Charles III’s coronation, plans are at an advanced stage to mark his historic accession to the throne — Britain’s first in seven decades.
Charles, 74, immediately became king when Queen Elizabeth died aged 96 last September, ending her record-breaking 70-year reign following a period of declining health.
But a British monarch’s coronation traditionally takes place some months later, after national and royal mourning as well as intense preparation.
– Three-day celebration
The early May coronation weekend will feature a star-studded concert, nationwide “big lunch” and volunteering initiative, as well as the traditional ceremony and royal processions.
The three days of ceremonial, celebratory and community events have been heralded by Buckingham Palace as a chance for “people to come together in celebration of the historic occasion”.
It will begin with Charles’ formal crowning at London’s Westminster Abbey on Saturday May 6, in a tradition dating back more than 900 years.
The next day will then see a “special coronation concert” staged at Windsor Castle, west of London, to be produced and broadcast live by the BBC and featuring “global music icons and contemporary stars,” the palace has said.
Also on May 7, neighbours and communities will be invited to host thousands of “coronation big lunches”, billed as a “nationwide act of celebration and friendship”.
The final part of coronation weekend, dubbed “the big help out”, will be held on Monday May 8 — designated a UK public holiday this year.
Organised by community forums and various faith groups, it will “highlight the positive impact volunteering has on communities across the nation”.
– Scaled-down ceremony
In another sign of Charles’s eagerness for a streamlined monarchy, his coronation ceremony will be shorter and less elaborate than the one staged for his late mother in 1953.
Then, proceedings lasted almost three hours, drew 8,251 official guests crammed into temporary tiers and included representatives from 129 nations and territories.
Instead, the palace confirmed Tuesday it will be inviting a mere 2,000 guests, while the service is set to last around an hour.
Alongside releasing a new photograph of Charles and Queen Consort Camilla taken last month, Buckingham Palace also unveiled the formal invitation to be dispatched “in due course”.
Designed by heraldic artist and manuscript illuminator Andrew Jamieson, it features the motif of “the Green Man”, an ancient figure from British folklore, “symbolic of spring and rebirth, to celebrate the new reign,” the palace noted.
– Guest list
Set to be watched worldwide, various global dignitaries including political leaders, heads of state and other monarchs and civil society representatives will be in attendance.
The palace is yet to release a list of those invited.
Britain’s royal family will obviously be well represented.
The palace also announced Tuesday that Charles’…
