John Adoyi, PBA Journalism MenteeAll Roads, Airports, Others lead to London As King Charles Assumes British Throne On Saturday As 40th Monarch.
History will be made on Saturday, May, 6 as the coronation of King Charles III will take place 70 years after his Mother, Queen Elizabeth II went through the same ritual.
Although Charles became head of State of the United Kingdom as Queen Elizabeth II died last year October, this is a formal celebration to mark his Kingship.
The coronation which will be both religious and symbolic will see King Charles III who was born 14th November 1948, crowned alongside his wife, Camilla, the Queen Consort, as the 40th Monarch of the United Kingdom since 1066.
Though the main celebration service will begin at 11 A.M, procession from Buckingham palace to the celebration ground at Westminster Abbey will begin by 6 A.M.
During the celebration service which will be within two hours and in different stages, King Charles III and Camilla, the Queen Consort will be presented with different symbols of the British Royalty.
King Charles will be presented with the Sovereign’s Orb, the Sovereign’s Sceptre with Cross and the Sovereign’s Sceptre with Dove and the coronation Ring. While the Queen Consort will be presented with the Queen Consort’s Rod with Dove and the Queen Consort’s Sceptre with Cross.
The Sovereign’s Orb represents the Christian World, The Sceptre with Cross represents Kingly power and Justice while the Sceptre with Dove represents the King’s spiritual role.
According to the BBC, the different stages in the celebration which would be officiated by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, include:
The first stage is the recognition. This is when the King will stand and be presented to “the people” as he faces the four sides of the Westminster Abbey as he is proclaimed the “undoubted King.” The congregation will also shout “God Save the King.”
The stage 2 is when the King will take the oath. He will take the coronation oath and the accession declaration oath. In the coronation oath, the Archbishop will ask King Charles to accept that he will uphold the law of the land and the Church of England during his reign and the king will pledge to keep the promises.
While in the accession oath, the King will confirm that he is a “faithful Protestant.”
The stage three is anointing of the King. This is considered as the most sacred part of the service. Oil from the Ampulla (gold flask) will be poured into the coronation spoon and be used on the head, breast and hand of the King as a sign of the Cross. This will be administered by the Archbishop.
The next stage is the crowning of the King also called the Investiture. This is when the King will wear the crown of ST. Edward for the only time of his life.
According to the BBC “First the King will be given a shimmering golden coat to wear called the Supertunic, and be presented with items including the Sovereign’s Orb, the Coronation Ring, the Sovereign’s Sceptre with Cross and the Sovereign’s Sceptre with Dove.
Then the archbishop will place St Edward’s Crown on the King’s head and the abbey bells will ring for two minutes, trumpets will sound and gun salutes will be fired across the UK.
A 62-round salute will be fired at the Tower of London, with a six-gun salvo at Horse Guards Parade. Twenty-one rounds will be fired at a further 11 locations around the UK, including Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, and on deployed Royal Navy ships.”
The last stage is when the King will take the throne and the crowd will swear allegiance to the King.
Apart from the religious celebration there will be colourful events across the UK from the weekend up until Monday that is a holiday in the Kingdom.
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