King Charles III will be crowned on May 6 in a very traditional UK coronation ceremony; The first in 70 years and the first in the Internet age. Prince Harry will attend without Meghan Markle for a high-profile meeting with the royal family, just months after the release of his bombshell memoir. additional.
Highlights
- King Charles III and Queen Camilla will be crowned on May 6 in Westminster Abbey, eight months after they took the throne after the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
- The concert will start at 12 noon (UTC + 2), and it will be broadcast by British media, including BBC News.
- About 2,000 people were invited to the coronation ceremony, a quarter of the size of Elizabeth II’s coronation, including members of the royal family, heads of state, foreign dignitaries, British political leaders, and 850 people recognized for their philanthropy.
- Buckingham Palace announced Wednesday that Prince Harry will attend the coronation ceremony, but that Meghan Markle and their children will remain at home in California.
- Charles and Camilla will first travel from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey in the six-horse Diamond Jubilee coach, and return to Buckingham Palace in the eight-horse Gold State coach, which has been used at all coronation ceremonies since King William IV in 1831.
- Charles’ motorcade will be much shorter than that of Elizabeth II, whose journey from Westminster Abbey to Buckingham Palace in 1953 took eight kilometers, while this one will take a two kilometer shorter route.
- The famous St. Edward’s Crown, which is more than 360 years old, thirty centimeters high and weighs more than two kilograms, will be used for Charles’ coronation. Made of 22 karat gold and 444 precious and semi-precious stones, including 345 pink cut aquamarines, 37 white topazes, 27 tourmalines, 12 rubies, seven amethysts, six blue sapphires, two jars of chalcedony, garnet, spinel, and a carbuncle. .
- Camilla will be crowned with Queen Mary’s tiara—featuring a silver cord lined with gold and 2,200 diamonds and Elizabeth II’s Cullinan III, IV, and V tiara valued at 94.4 and 63, respectively, 0.6 and 18.8 carats—and he will carry an ivory scepter, a move that sparked some controversy when the prince launched William campaigned against the ivory trade.
- In the first royal coronation in the age of social media, the royal family unveiled an emoji inspired by Saint Edward’s crown, which will appear when the Twitter hashtag #coronation is used.
- For the first time, King Charles’ subjects will be required to take an oath of allegiance to the monarch, no matter where they attend the coronation. It is a “greeting to the people,” which organizers hope will form a “chorus of millions of people.”
Participants
President Joe Biden will not attend the coronation ceremony, but First Lady Jill Biden will attend his place, a decision that angered some conservative British politicians and commentators, although Biden stuck to tradition: no sitting US president attended a coronation ceremony. . Other high-profile world leaders are expected, including French President Emmanuel Macron, Polish President Andrzej Duda and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, as well as foreign royalty including Prince Albert and Princess Charlene of Monaco, King Philip and Queen Letizia of Spain and Crown Prince Akishino. . Crown Princess Kiko of Japan. Among the expected British celebrities are comedians Ant and Dec, British Vogue editor Edward Enninful and actress Joanna Lumley (rapper Nicki Minaj also tweeted that she’d be attending, though her invitation didn’t go down). Confirmed and it may just be a promotional effort for her new song titled “Princess Diana”).
Who will perform?
Katy Perry, Lionel Richie, opera Andrea Bocelli and English pop group Take That will perform at the Coronation Gala on May 7, after some of Britain’s biggest pop artists – including Harry Styles, Adele, Elton John and the Spices Girls – refused to perform, possibly In an attempt to get away from the royal scandals and the declining popularity of the royal family among the youth.
A large number
4 billion dollars (3.6 billion euros). This is the amount estimated by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors for the Crown Jewels in 2019, compared to the sale of the French Crown Jewels in 1887 and the sale of Princess Margaret’s jewels in 2006. It will not be sold on the open market, and includes more than 100 antiques and 23,000 precious stones It has been protected in the Tower of London since the 1560s. The Crown Jewels include the Cullinan Diamond, the largest diamond ever found (3,106 metric carats), which was cut into several pieces and incorporated into coronation regalia and other items. Cullinan I is used in the Sovereign’s Scepter with the Cross, which weighs 530.2 carats, and Cullinan II is used in the Imperial State Crown, weighing 317.4 carats.
main context
A coronation is a traditional religious ceremony in the United Kingdom in which a monarch is physically crowned and formally sworn in as Head of the Church of England. The coronation is celebrated by the Archbishop of Canterbury. During the ceremony, the monarch is sworn in to those present in Westminster Abbey, who say in unison: “God save the king” or “God save the Queen.”. The King swears to respect the law and the Church of England, and the Archbishop anoints him with holy oil. Although the oil’s recipe is kept secret, it is known to contain amber, orange blossom, rose, jasmine, and cinnamon, and for Charles, the oil would be cruelty-free. The King receives royal objects, including the Orb, a golden globe adorned with a cross, emeralds, rubies, sapphires, rose-cut diamonds and a row of pearls, representing religious and moral authority. The King also receives the Sovereign’s Scepter with Cross, a gold bar adorned with a 530.2-carat Cullinan I diamond, as well as other diamonds, emeralds, sapphires, and a world of amethysts. The scepter of the king with a dove, representing justice and mercy, is also a golden staff, set with diamonds, rubies, sapphires and emeralds, and attached to a dove with outstretched wings. The King is crowned with St. Edward’s Crown, the Archbishop prays and the King is seated on the throne. The coronation process has remained virtually unchanged for more than 1,000 years. In 1953, the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II was the first to be televised and was watched by 27 million viewers in the UK and millions more around the world.
What we do not know
What role will Prince Harry play in the coronation? Although Harry was confirmed to be attending, BBC News reports that as he is no longer a member of the royal family, it is unclear if he will appear with them on the balcony of Buckingham Palace. Last year, Harry and Meghan stepped out of the balcony at the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, who decided to limit balcony appearances to members of the royal family “who are currently on official public duties in the Queen’s name.” Some British newspapers reported that a pose on the balcony of Buckingham Palace was part of Harry and Meghan’s requirements to appear at the coronation ceremony. The ceremony takes place just four months after the publication of Harry’s diary, additionalIn it, he explained how he begged his father, Charles, not to marry Camilla, after the death of his mother, Princess Diana. Harry stepped down from his royal duties in 2020 and moved to California with his family. He traveled to the UK in March to stand trial in his privacy breach case against the Daily Mail publisher, but reportedly did not visit Charles while living in the country. According to Britain’s The Telegraph, Harry and Charles had “peace talks” before Harry confirmed he would attend the coronation ceremony, but William was not involved in those talks.
Amazing fact
The royal family’s Twitter account revealed the invitations to the coronation on April 5, and many people were quick to note that Camilla was being referred to as “Queen Camilla” there, not the Queen as she was known until now. The title “consort” is given to the wife of a king who does not have the same political or military powers. A royal source told CNN that the title “Queen Consort” was originally used in the months following Elizabeth II’s death to distinguish the late queen from Camilla. Royal historian Marilyn Koenig told NPR that she wasn’t surprised by the invitation that simply used the term “Queen,” noting that the former Queen’s two sisters were often referred to simply as “Queen” in royal affairs and reports. Nicoletta Golas, an associate professor of British history at the University of New Hampshire, told NPR that she was surprised the term “consort” was dropped because that was how Elizabeth II implied she meant it. It is an attempt to make Camilla more legitimate in the eyes of the British public after her affair with Charles when he was married to Diana, which remains in the public memory.
the shadow
The British government foots the bill for coronations, which can cost millions of dollars. Elizabeth II’s coronation cost about £1.57m at the time, or £46m (€52m) today. The cost of the upcoming coronation ceremony is not yet known, and the British government told The Washington Post that the information will be published at a later date. According to the BBC, this high cost is likely to draw criticism amid inflation and the rising cost of living in the UK.
Translated article from the American magazine Forbes – Author: Connor Murray
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