Coronation of Charles III and Camilla

The King and Queen waving from the balcony of Buckingham Palace following the coronation service
Date	6 May 2023; 12 months ago (2023-05-06)
Location	Westminster Abbey
Participants	King Charles III Queen Camilla Great Officers of State Bishops of the Church of England Selected members of the armed forces of the Commonwealth Heralds of the College of Arms and the Lyon Court Selected Peers of the Realm Faith representatives

Part of a series of articles on the
Coronation of Charles III and Camilla
Background
Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II Proclamation of accession
Events
Coronation Concert List of guests 2023 Birthday and Coronation Honours King Charles III Coronation Medal Coronation quiche
Related
Charles III: The Coronation Year Charles R: The Making of a Monarch
v t e

The coronation of Charles III and his wife, Camilla, as king and queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms, took place on Saturday, 6 May 2023 at Westminster Abbey. Charles acceded to the throne on 8 September 2022 upon the death of his mother, Elizabeth II. It was the first coronation held since Elizabeth II’s coronation in 1953 nearly 70 years prior.

The ceremony was structured around an Anglican service of Holy Communion. It included Charles taking an oath, being anointed with holy oil, and receiving the coronation regalia, emphasising his spiritual role and secular responsibilities.^[a] Representatives of the Church of England and the British royal family declared their allegiance to him, and people throughout the Commonwealth realms were invited to do so. Camilla was crowned in a shorter and simpler ceremony. After the service, members of the royal family travelled to Buckingham Palace in a state procession and appeared on the palace's rear and front balconies. The service was altered from past British coronations to represent the multiple faiths, cultures, and communities of the United Kingdom. It was shorter than Elizabeth II's coronation, and had a peak UK television audience of 20.4 million, making it the most watched television broadcast of 2023.

The coronation elicited both celebrations and protest in the United Kingdom, with surveys carried out before the event suggesting that the British public was ambivalent towards the ceremony and its funding by taxpayers. The events in London and Windsor drew large crowds, but were also protested against by republican groups; 64 individuals were arrested on the day, which was criticised by the international advocacy group Human Rights Watch. The celebrations included street parties, volunteering, special commemorative church services, and a concert at Windsor Castle on 7 May. The response in the other Commonwealth realms was similarly mixed; while there were many celebrations, some government officials and indigenous groups took the opportunity to voice republican sentiments and call for reparatory justice. It was the first British coronation in the 21st century and the 40th to be held at Westminster Abbey since the coronation of William the Conqueror in 1066.^[b]

Preparation

Background

Charles III became king immediately upon the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, at 15:10 BST on 8 September 2022. He was proclaimed king by the Accession Council on 10 September,^[2] which was followed by proclamations in other Commonwealth realms.^[3] Charles's wife Camilla became queen consort.^[4] During Elizabeth II's reign, planning meetings for Charles's coronation, code-named Operation Golden Orb, were held at least once a year, attended by representatives of the UK government, the Church of England, and Charles's staff.^[5][6][7]

Service and procession

The organisation of the coronation was the responsibility of the Earl Marshal, the Duke of Norfolk.^[8] A committee of privy counsellors arranged the event.^[9][7] In October 2022, the date of the coronation was announced as 6 May 2023, a choice made to ensure sufficient time to mourn the death of Elizabeth II before holding the ceremony.^[10][7]

A Coronation Claims Office was established within the Cabinet Office to handle claims to perform a historic or ceremonial role at the coronation, replacing the Court of Claims.^[11] The posts of Lord High Steward and Lord High Constable of England, which are now only named for coronations, were given to General Sir Gordon Messenger and Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, respectively.^[12]

The holy anointing oil used in the service was consecrated at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on 6 March 2023 by Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem, under the supervision of Hosam Naoum, the Anglican archbishop of Jerusalem. It was based on the same formula as the oil used in the coronation of Elizabeth II, but without animal products such as civet.^[13][14][15]

Military dress rehearsals took place on 17, 18, and 19 April.^[16][17] The King and Queen, the Prince and Princess of Wales and their children, and the Princess Royal, attended coronation rehearsals at Westminster Abbey on 3 May.^[18]

Westminster Abbey was closed to tourists and worshippers from 25 April for preparations, and did not re-open until 8 May.^[19] As at previous coronations, many attendees had an obscured view, as the abbey's nave was filled to capacity. However, on this occasion some television screens were installed in the nave to mitigate this.^[20]

Guests

The coronation was a state event funded by the British government, which also decided the guest list.^[21] Approximately 2,200 guests from 203 countries were invited.^[22] They included members of the British royal family, representatives from the Church of England and other British faith communities, prominent politicians from the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth, and foreign heads of state.^[23]

The number of British political attendees was reduced significantly from 1953, when virtually the entire Parliament of the United Kingdom attended.^[24] Invitations were extended to 850 community and charity representatives, including 450 British Empire Medal recipients and 400 young persons, half of whom were nominated by the government.^[25] Following a tradition dating from 1189, fourteen barons of the Cinque Ports were also invited.^[26] Safety regulations at Westminster Abbey restricted the number of guests, as in contrast to earlier coronations no temporary stands were erected in the building.^[27]

In addition to the coronation, several dignitaries invited to the event also attended related gatherings hosted by Charles on 5 May in London. Several receptions were hosted by Charles on that day, including one for dignitaries from the Commonwealth realms at Buckingham Palace, and another reception at Marlborough House for all the leaders of the Commonwealth of Nations.^[28][29] In the evening, the King hosted a reception for foreign royalty and other overseas dignitaries at Buckingham Palace,^[30] and family members and guests also attended a reception at Oswald's.^[31]

Vestments and crowns

In a break with tradition, Charles's coronation vestments (ceremonial clothes) were largely reused from previous coronations instead of being newly made.^[32][33] While it is customary for the supertunica and robe royal to be reused, Charles also wore vestments first used by George IV, George V, George VI, and Elizabeth II. Camilla similarly reused vestments, including Elizabeth II's robe of state, but also wore a new robe of estate featuring her cypher, bees, a beetle, and various plants and flowers.^[33] She also wore a new coronation gown, created by Bruce Oldfield and embroidered with wildflowers, the United Kingdom's floral emblems, her cypher, a pair of dogs, and her grandchildren's names.^[34][35]

St Edward's Crown, which was used to crown the King, was removed from the Tower of London in December 2022 for resizing.^[36][21] In February 2023 Queen Mary's Crown, which was used to crown the Queen, was also removed from display to be reset with Cullinan III, IV and V and for four of its eight detachable arches to be removed.^[37] The Crown of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother was not used, to avoid a potential diplomatic dispute with India; the crown contains the Koh-i-Noor diamond, which is claimed by India.^[38]

The dress code for peers without a role in the ceremony was originally lounge suits or parliamentary robes, rather than the coronets, coronation robes, and court dress traditionally worn.^[39][20] This was changed in the week before the coronation after protests, with peers allowed to wear coronation robes but not coronets.^[40] The general dress code for men was morning dress, a lounge suit, formal military uniform or national dress.^[41]

Art

The official photographer of the coronation was Hugo Burnand, who had previously been the official photographer for Charles and Camilla's wedding in 2005.^[42] Eileen Hogan was selected to paint the coronation ceremony, and Peter Kuhfeld and Paul Benney to paint the coronation portraits of Charles and Camilla respectively.^[43] Three alumni of The Royal Drawing School, Fraser Scarfe, Phoebe Stannard and Gideon Summerfield, were picked to document the procession.^[44]

Andrew Jamieson was commissioned to create the coronation invitation, which featured the couple's coats of arms, the floral emblems of the United Kingdom, and a Green Man amid other British wildflowers and wildlife.^[45][46] The coronation emblem was designed by Jony Ive with his creative collective LoveFrom, and depicts the floral emblems of the United Kingdom in the shape of St Edward's Crown.^[47][48] There are versions of the emblem in both English and Welsh.^[49]

The procession into the abbey was led by the Cross of Wales, a new processional cross commissioned by Charles to mark the centenary of the Church in Wales. It includes relics of the True Cross gifted to the King by Pope Francis.^[50] The screen which concealed the King during his anointing was designed by iconographer Aidan Hart and embroidered by the Royal School of Needlework. It includes 56 leaves embroidered with the names of the members of the Commonwealth of Nations.^[51][52]

The Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, Simon Armitage, released a new poem, An Unexpected Guest, to mark the coronation. The poem follows a woman invited to attend the coronation in Westminster Abbey, and quotes Samuel Pepys' experience at the coronation of Charles II in 1661.^[53][54][55]

In a tradition dating back to the coronation of King Edward II in 1308, the official account of the event, the Coronation Roll, was presented to the King and Queen on 3 May 2024. The roll of hand-stitched paper is 21 metres long and contains 11,500 words, crafted by calligrapher Stephanie von Werthern-Gill and illustrated by Timothy Noad. The roll will be kept with its predecessors at the The National Archives,^[56] but has been digitised and is accessible online.^[57]

Music

Twelve new pieces were commissioned for the service and used alongside older works, including several used at previous coronations.^[58][59]

Six of the new commissions were performed by the orchestra before the service — those by Judith Weir; Sir Karl Jenkins; a vocal piece by Sarah Class performed by Pretty Yende; Nigel Hess, Roderick Williams, and Shirley J. Thompson; Iain Farrington; and a new march by Patrick Doyle.^[60] New compositions by Roxanna Panufnik, Tarik O'Regan, and Andrew Lloyd Webber were part of the service, and Debbie Wiseman composed two related pieces, one of which was performed by the Ascension Choir.^[60][61]

Existing works by William Byrd, George Frideric Handel, William Boyce, Edward Elgar, Walford Davies, William Walton, Hubert Parry, and Ralph Vaughan Williams were included, as they had been at previous coronations.^[61] Six pieces were performed in new arrangements by John Rutter.^[62]

In tribute to the King's 64-year tenure as Prince of Wales the Kyrie was set in Welsh by Paul Mealor and was sung by Sir Bryn Terfel.^[60] Psalm 71 was chanted to in Greek by a Byzantine choir, which was included in the service in tribute to the King's father, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who was born a prince of Greece.^[63]

The director of music for the coronation was Andrew Nethsingha, the organist and master of the choristers at the abbey.^[61] Before the service John Eliot Gardiner conducted the Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists.^[58][61] The main choir was a combination of the choirs of Westminster Abbey, the Chapel Royal, the octet from the Monteverdi Choir, Methodist College Belfast Girls' Choir and Truro Cathedral Girls' Choir.^[61][60][64] The orchestra players were drawn from the Philharmonia Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Regina Symphony Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Royal Opera House Orchestra and Welsh National Opera Orchestra, which are all patronised by Charles.^[61][60] The orchestra, situated in the organ loft,^[65] was conducted by Antonio Pappano and led by Vasko Vasilev.^[60] The State Trumpeters of the Household Cavalry and the Fanfare Trumpeters of the Royal Air Force played the fanfares.^[61]

All eight of the massed bands in the coronation procession played the same music, keeping time with each other with the help of a radio broadcast click track – the first time such technology has been used on such a large-scale ceremonial event; previously bands would march to different pieces of music starting at different times. The tempo set was 108 beats per minute, slowed down from the regulation 116 beats per minute because of the size of the bands.^[66]

An official coronation album, which includes all music and spoken word from the pre-service and service was recorded and released by Decca Records after the ceremony.^[67]