- King Charles III is the King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms.
- He became the oldest person to accede to the British throne after the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, in Sept. 2022.
- He will have his official coronation on May 6, 2023.
King Charles III, 74, became the king of the U.K. and the 14 other Commonwealth realms right after his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, died on Sept. 8, 2022, but the traditional coronation, where he was officially crowned, took place on May 6, 2023. His wife, Camilla, 75, was crowned as Queen Consort at the ceremony. The crowning ceremony was attended by entire royal family, including his feuding sons Prince William and Prince Harry, who arrived with lower ranking members of the family. His grandchildren in line for the throne — Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis — were also part of the big day.
King Charles is the oldest person to accede to the British throne, so the upcoming event is a historical one The King stepped into his new royal title the same moment the Queen passed away at the age of 96. Prior to her death, he was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales, stepping away to become King at the age of 73. Shortly after the loss of his mother and the gain of the highest royal title, King Charles released a statement to the public.
“The death of my beloved Mother, Her Majesty The Queen, is a moment of great sadness for me and all members of my family,” he said in the statement. “We mourn profoundly the passing of a cherished Sovereign and a much-loved mother. I know her loss will be deeply felt throughout the country, the Realms and the Commonwealth, and by countless people around the world. During this period of mourning and change, my family and I will be comforted and sustained by our knowledge of the respect and deep affection in which the Queen was so widely held.”
As King Charles gets set to be crowned at his coronation, there are many questions the public has about the event, such as, how will his coronation differ from his mother’s? Who is on the guest list? And, what kind of crown will he wear?
Find out the answers to those questions and more about the coronation below.
When Is King Charles’ Coronation? Date, Time, & Location
King Charles’ coronation will take place at Westminster Abbey in London, England on May 6, 2023. The news was announced in Oct. 2022 by Buckingham Palace. The service will be conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury and is reportedly expected to last just over an hour. Buckingham Palace announced that, “The Coronation will reflect the monarch’s role today and look towards the future, while being rooted in longstanding traditions and pageantry,” on the royal family’s website.
Coronation Invitation 2023: What Does It Look Like
Just about a month before the grand day, Buckingham Palace revealed the official invitation sent out to attendees of the May 6 event on the official Instagram page for the royals. Designed by Andrew Jamieson, a well respected UK artist, the invitation includes their Majesties’ arms, “the emblematic flowers of the UK, and a British wildflower meadow and wildlife are all included on the design, which was hand-painted in watercolour and gouache.” The reveal of the image also explained that the invite will be reproduced and printed on recycled card, with gold foil detailing, and confirmed that 2,000 invited guests will be receiving.
On his work on the invitation, Andrew Jamieson admitted to feeling extremely proud. “Can’t quite believe the positive response to my artwork for the Coronation Invitation,” he wrote on Instagram. “A gloriously big thank you to everyone who messaged me with kind comments, to those who now follow me here and those who sent messages via my website. Exciting times.”
How Will King Charles’ Coronation Compare to Queen Elizabeth’s in 1953?
King Charles’ coronation is expected to be very different from Queen Elizabeth’s, which took place in 1953. 2.000 guests are reportedly set to attend, which is quite a contrast to the 8,251 people who attended the Queen’s. The hour-long ceremony is also much shorter than the Queen’s three-hour ceremony.
In addition to the number of guests and the length of the ceremony, King Charles’ plans to bring more modern elements into the ceremony set him apart from his late mother. “It’s going to be more inclusive. I think with many more religions [represented],” Lady Anne Glenconner, 90, who served as a maid of honor at Queen Elizabeth’s coronation, said about the King’s coronation, according to People.
What Crowns Will King Charles and Queen Camilla Use at the Coronation?
King Charles will wear the St. Edward Crown at the coronation. The important crown was at the Tower of London, where it was stored with other Crown Jewels. It left in Dec. 2022 to get prepped for the ceremony. The St. Edward Crown was first created for Charles II in 1661 and was a replacement for the previous crown that had been melted down in 1649, according to Buckingham Palace. The Palace also revealed that the original was believed to date back to the 11th-century royal saint, Edward the Confessor, the last Anglo-Saxon king of England.
Camilla’s crown will be the Queen Mary’s Crown. It has an incredible 2,200 diamonds and was first worn by Charles’ great-grandmother Mary when she was crowned as Queen Consort at the coronation for her husband, King George V, in 1911. It will be the first time in history that a Queen Consort will wear an existing crown instead of something new. The decision was made “in the interests of sustainability and efficiency,” Buckingham Palace said.
The Palace also revealed that the headpiece is being reset with the Cullinan III, IV and V diamonds from Queen Elizabeth’s jewelry collection. Four of the crown’s eight detachable arches are also being removed to create “a different impression to when the Crown was worn by Queen Mary at the 1911 Coronation,” the palace said.
Will Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Attend King Charles’ Coronation?
The answer is yes… and no. On April 12th, Buckingham Palace confirmed that Prince Harry would be attending his father’s coronation, but solo. Though unclear how the decision was reached, Meghan Markle will not be attending the service, nor will their children Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet. Prince Harry’s family will remain at their home in California while he attends his father’s coronation. It will mark the first time he’s been with his family since the publication of his scathing autobiography, Spare.
In March 2023, it was reported that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were invited to the coronation via email, but their spokesperson said they hadn’t yet made a decision about their attendance. “An immediate decision on whether The Duke and Duchess will attend will not be disclosed by us at this time,” the statement said.
As for the rest of the family, King Charles’ other son, Prince William and his wife Kate Middleton, are expected to be at the coronation. Their three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis, are also reportedly attending. Other royals on the guest list include Prince Albert of Monaco and his wife, Princess Charlene, and possibly Queen Camilla’s five grandchildren from her first marriage to Andrew Parker Bowles. King Charles’ brother Prince Andrew, who made headlines for stepping back from royal duties over his ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, is also believed to have been invited.
Who Will Be Performing At King Charles’ Coronation?
Katy Perry, Lionel Richie, Take That and Andrea Bocelli are among the first acts confirmed for King Charles’ Coronation concert, as revealed by Variety on April 14. Also joining are Welsh bass-baritone Sir Bryn Terfel, singer-songwriter Freya Ridings and classical-soul composer-producer Alexis Ffrench.
Lionel, who was appointed as The Prince’s Trust’s first Global Ambassador and chairman of the Global Ambassador Group in 2019, said, “To share the stage with the other performers at The Coronation Concert is a once-in-a-lifetime event and it will be an honor and a celebration.”
Katie was also appointed in 2020 as an ambassador of The British Asian Trust, a charity founded by the king when he was Prince of Wales, due to her work with global charities. Of her participation in the concert, she said, “I am excited to be performing at the Coronation Concert, and helping to shine a further light on the British Asian Trust’s Children’s Protection Fund, whose work includes on-ground initiatives to fundraising, with the aim to find solutions to child trafficking.”
Meanwhile, Take That comprises Gary Barlow, Howard Donald and Mark Owen, and they said, “This will be our first live show since the Odyssey Tour, four years ago in 2019, and what a stage to come back on! A huge live band and orchestra, a choir, military drummers, the backdrop of Windsor Castle and the celebration of a new king. We can’t wait.”
On April 28, Variety further reported that Tom Cruise, Pussycat Dolls frontwoman Nicole Scherzinger and Winnie the Pooh would also be making appearances.
While the coronation will take place on Saturday, May 6, the coronation concert will follow on the evening of Sunday, May 7.
Will King Charles and Queen Camilla Live in Buckingham Palace After the Coronation?
King Charles and Queen Camilla will reportedly move out of Clarence House, where they are now, and into Buckingham Palace once renovations on the royal residence are completed in 2027.
Will King Charles’ Coronation Be Livestreamed?
The entire ceremony will be showcased live on the BBC in England. Sky News is also expected to air the live coronation on their YouTube page, and The Telegraph reports that news coverage of the coronation will be covered on ITV’s “social media platforms.”