Buhari, Other World Leaders To Witness Coronation

All is set for the formal coronation of King Charles 111 as the King of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms.

NewsOrient, quoting Wikipedia, reports that the coronation of Charles III and his wife, Camilla, as king and queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms is scheduled to take place on Saturday, 6 May 2023, at Westminster Abbey.

It would be recalled that Charles ascended to the throne on 8 September 2022, upon the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II.

A report in Reuters said the coronation ceremony will begin at 1000 GMT following a procession from Buckingham Palace. It is set to be shorter than that for his mother 70 years ago at about two hours long compared to almost four hours.”

The report said “a much larger procession will depart the Abbey, made up of armed forces from Britain and across the Commonwealth. The king and queen will travel in the gold state coach which was commissioned in 1760.

TIMINGS

The coronation ceremony will begin at 1000 GMT following a procession from Buckingham Palace. It is set to be shorter than that for his mother 70 years ago at about two hours long, compared to almost four hours.

A much larger procession will depart the Abbey, made up of armed forces from Britain and across the Commonwealth. The king and queen will travel in the gold state coach which was commissioned in 1760.

WHAT HAPPENS AT THE CORONATION?

The Reuters report says “Charles will take an oath to uphold the law and the Church of England.

“Sitting on the historic Coronation Chair, known as St Edward’s chair and containing the Stone of Destiny, he will be anointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the spiritual leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion, with holy oil consecrated in Jerusalem.

“It is the centre point of the ceremony and signals the conferment of God’s grace on the sovereign. A new screen will provide “absolute privacy” during that moment.

“Charles will also be presented with various hugely ornate golden orbs, sceptres, swords and a ring, which all form part of the Crown Jewels and variously symbolise the monarch’s power, authority and duties, and the power of God.

“The archbishop will then place the heavy St Edward’s Crown, used in coronations for the last 350 years, upon his head. Charles will leave the Abbey wearing a different crown, the Imperial State Crown.

“The public will be invited to swear allegiance to the monarch and to his heirs and successors.

Charles will wear robes of crimson and purple silk velvet at his May 6 coronation which were once worn by his grandfather King George VI at his own coronation in 1937.

CAMILLA

Charles’ second wife Camilla, whom he married in 2005, will also be separately crowned queen during the ceremony, and like her husband, anointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

She will be crowned using the crown of Queen Mary, commissioned and worn by the consort of King George V for the 1911 coronation. This is being reset with diamonds from Queen Elizabeth’s personal jewellery collection as a tribute to her.

GUESTS

There will be 2,200 guests inside Westminster Abbey, far fewer than the 8,000 in attendance for Queen Elizabeth’s coronation in 1953.

Among them will be the British royal family, including Charles’ younger son, Prince Harry, but not his wife Meghan, or his two children, with the ceremony taking place on son Prince Archie’s fourth birthday.

There will also be other foreign royals, officials and heads of states, with U.S. first lady Jill Biden representing the United States and China’s Vice President Han Zheng expected to attend on behalf of Beijing.

There will also be friends of Charles and Camilla present, representatives of charities and celebrities, including Lionel Richie,” according to Reuters.

NewsOrient reports that Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari will be amongst the guests.