The coronation of Charles III and Queen Consort Camila will take place on May 6, 2023 at Westminster Abbey. The festivities will continue on the 7th and 8th in the UK to celebrate this historic event.
King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla will be crowned on Saturday May 6, 2023 at Westminster Abbey. But May 7 and 8 will also be days of celebration. On Sundays, the British people are encouraged to participate in neighborhood parties to celebrate the coronation. Monday is a public holiday for the occasion in order to invite the British to carry out voluntary actions within the framework of the “Big Help Out” project.
The festivities are codenamed “Operation Golden Orb”. The purpose of the ceremony is to publicly formalize the transfer of royal powers to Charles III. This is not required in the British monarchy: Edward VIII reigned without any coronation and Charles was automatically named Charles III on the death of his mother Elizabeth. The event will be more modest so as not to relive the endless procession of Elizabeth II and some 16,000 participants present on a 7 kilometer route. Charles and Camilla will parade quickly through Westminster Abbey before being joined by members of the Royal Family in a procession leading to Buckingham Palace. The palace keeps the mystery of the composition of the people authorized to appear on the balcony of the famous palace.
British media believe that the ceremony will be modest and economical due to the crisis. The king’s procession will thus be very short compared to that experienced by Elizabeth II. According to the Daily Mirror, “the king is aware of the difficult daily life of the English.” As a reminder, the 1953 ceremony cost 1.57 million pounds at the time, or around 45 million euros today. The 2023 one should barely last an hour. In this sense, Charles III detaches himself from the codes, Elizabeth II having respected the code of the three hours of ceremony. The monarchy wishes to unveil a modern and lucid image on the situation of the country: “the coronation will also reflect the role of the monarch today and will look to the future although it is rooted in ancient traditions”.
No definitive answer for the moment but the British press is rather of the opinion to see Harry and his wife Meghan Markle absent from the ceremony. Sean Coughlan, a journalist specializing in the royal family, says the couple received an email invitation to the coronation. But the spokesperson for the exiled couple in the United States did not release an official response: “An immediate decision as to whether the Duke and Duchess will attend will not be released by us at this time.”
The royal palace has not yet lifted the mystery on the programming of this highly anticipated concert at Windsor Castle on the evening of Saturday May 6. The BBC will be in charge of its retransmission. Speculation is therefore rife but the only current solid information is to announce that the artists will be named international. However, the palace is in great difficulty to convince British stars to come. The Daily Mail suggests that Harry Styles, Elton John and the Spice Girls would have declined the invitation. Ed Sheeran explained to HuffPost that he was not invited. For the jubilee of the 70 years of reign of Elizabeth II, 250,000 spectators were present to attend performances by Diana Ross, Queen or Rod Stewart.
The BBC will broadcast the festivities in mondovision. Most major TV channels will switch their usual schedule to cover the coronation and procession of King Charles III. A live stream will of course be available on Linternaute so that you don’t miss anything of this historic event.
2,000 people were invited to the ceremony. This is 6,000 less than that of Elizabeth II where Westminster Abbey had to be modified in five months to accommodate 8,251 people. The royal family will be almost complete depending on the decision of the couple Harry and Meghan. Other royal figures will move like Prince Albert of Monaco or Prince Fumihito for the Japanese imperial family. Many heads of state should be at the ceremony, as well as major British personalities and certain members of the aristocracy. A notable absentee is already to be noted: it is the President of the United States Joe Biden. The White House has not communicated a reason but insists on the presence of his wife Jill to represent the first world power. Queen Consort Camilla has invited the family from her first marriage to Andrew Parker Bowles. A gesture underlined by the followers of the monarchy as a desire to demonstrate the modernity of the royal family.
The royal family unveiled the official invitation to the coronation of Charles III on April 5. Here is the official coronation schedule:
Buckingham Palace hopes the coronation will be “a chance for people to come together”. The teams preparing for the three days of festivities hope that the figures for the broadcast will not be ridiculous in the face of the dizzying figures of 1953 and the coronation of Elizabeth II: 27 million Britons watched it on television when the country had 36 million people at the time.
