The United Kingdom is gearing up for three days of celebrations this weekend to mark the coronation of King Charles III. Millions of people are expected to tune in on Saturday to watch the King and Queen crowned during the coronation ceremony at Buckingham Palace.
The event will be followed by a star-studded concert on Sunday and a day of volunteering on the bank holiday Monday. While the coronation celebrations will begin on Saturday
Saturday’s Events
The coronation celebrations will kick off on the morning of Saturday 6 May. The King and Queen will be crowned in a ceremony at Westminster Abbey at 11 am.
Before and after the ceremony, a procession including the King and Queen will travel through London. They will follow a tried and tested 1.3-mile route between Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey, which involves traveling down the Mall, through Admiralty Arch, around Trafalgar Square, along Whitehall into Parliament Square.
The route is much shorter than the Queen’s five-mile return expedition around central London, which saw the 27-year-old monarch waving to crowds along Piccadilly, Oxford Street, and Regent Street.
According to the Palace, the coronation service itself will “reflect the monarch’s role today and look towards the future, while being rooted in longstanding traditions and pageantry”.
Those who will be taking on ceremonial roles include former TV presenter and Windrush campaigner Baroness Floella Benjamin, and Petty Officer Amy Taylor, who will be the first woman to bear the King’s Sword of Offering into the abbey.
After the coronation procession back to Buckingham Palace, Charles, and Camilla will be joined by family members on the balcony.
Later, more than 60 aircraft from the Royal Navy, Army, and Royal Air Force will fly over Buckingham Palace and The Mall in central London.
Sunday’s Events
On Sunday members of the public are being invited to organise a Coronation Big Lunch within their local communities. Camilla has been a patron of The Big Lunch, which is overseen by Cornwall’s Eden Project, since 2013.
The palace said thousands of events are expected to take place in streets, gardens, and parks across the UK on the day. Thousands of communities have registered their event through the Coronation Big Lunch website, which has an interactive map of all the lunches taking place.
The Coronation Concert
On Sunday evening, a coronation concert will be staged at Windsor Castle and broadcast live on the BBC from 8 pm.
Take That, Katy Perry and Lionel Ritchie are among the stars performing at the grounds of Windsor Castle. Italian opera singer Andrea Bocelli, Welsh bass-baritone Sir Bryn Terfel, and singer-songwriter Freya Ridings are also on the bill.
The Coronation Choir, a diverse group created from community choirs and amateur singers from across the UK, including refugee choirs, NHS choirs, LGBTQ+ singing groups, and deaf signing choirs, will make an appearance.
The Coronation Choir will appear alongside the Virtual Choir, made up of singers from across the Commonwealth, for a special performance.
During the event, landmarks across the UK will be lit up using projections, lasers, drone displays, and illuminations.
Monday’s Events
The bank holiday on Monday has been set aside for volunteering and is being billed as The Big Help Out”.
Organized by the Together Coalition and a wide range of partners such as the Scouts, the Royal Voluntary Service, and faith groups from across the UK, it aims to highlight the positive impact volunteering has on communities.
The palace said in tribute to the King’s public service, the big help out “will encourage people to try volunteering for themselves and join the work being undertaken to support their local areas”.
The day aims to use volunteering to bring communities together and create a lasting volunteering legacy from the coronation weekend.
Timetable Of Coronation Events:
Here is the full timetable of events:
- 6 am: Viewing areas open along the procession route.
- 7.15-8.30 am – guests to Westminster Abbey begin to arrive at security checkpoints in Victoria Tower Gardens.
- 9 am – congregation to be seated inside the Abbey.
- 9.30-10.45 am – heads of state, overseas government representatives, Government ministers, First Ministers, former PMs, foreign royals, and members of the Royal Family arrive
- 9.45 am – the Sovereign’s Escort of the Household Cavalry begins to gather ready for the procession from Buckingham Palace
- 10.20 am – the King and Queen’s procession sets off from the Palace
- 10.53 am – the King and Queen arrive at Westminster Abbey
- 11 am – Charles and Camilla enter the Abbey through the Great West Door and the service begins
- 12 pm – the King is crowned. The Archbishop of Canterbury places the St Edward’s Crown on Charles’s head. Trumpets will sound and gun salutes will be fired across the UK
- 1 pm – the service ends and the newly crowned King and Queen begin their coronation procession back to Buckingham Palace in the Gold State Coach
- 1.33 pm – Charles and Camilla are expected to enter Buckingham Palace through the Centre Arch
- 1.45 pm – the King and Queen receive a royal salute from the military in the Palace gardens
- Around 2.15 pm – the King, Queen, and members of the Royal Family appear on the Palace balcony to watch the flypast
