- Saturday, March 01, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
King Charles III was on Saturday (6) crowned in a centuries-old ceremony with celebrations that were marked by pomp.
Charles and Camilla, the queen consort, started their journey from Buckingham Palace to the abbey, travelling in the horse-drawn Diamond Jubilee State Coach and were accompanied by members of the king’s bodyguard, the Household Cavalry.
King Charles III has been crowned ?
God Save The King ??#Coronation pic.twitter.com/nTSdpB8XnV
— Kayla Adams (@KaylaAdams___) May 6, 2023
While King Charles III is supreme governor of the Church of England, he heads a more religiously and ethnically diverse country than the one his mother Queen Elizabeth II inherited after the Second World War.
The coronation themes mirrored the 74-year-old king’s lifelong interest in biodiversity and sustainability.
While the ceremonial vestments from previous coronations were reused, the anointing oil used was vegan.
Prime minister Rishi Sunak described the coronation as “a proud expression of our history, culture and traditions”.
The build-up to the coronation, an event which is taking place after seven decades, has been mostly celebratory. The coronation marked the religious confirmation of Charles’s accession to the throne after the death of his mother Queen Elizabeth II in September last year.
The build-up was also not without problems. The police arrested dozens of anti-monarchy protesters as they prepared to demonstrate along the route of a procession for the coronation as Charles and Camilla began their journey.
Britain’s national anthem is now “God Save the King”, with male-version lyrics that had not been sung since 1952.
The first British passports in Charles’s name will be issued from the middle of this year.
Those in the name of his mother, however, remain valid until expiry, meaning some will be used until 2033.
