King Charles III has been crowned in the UK’s largest ceremonial event for seven decades, in the presence of the Royal Family, 4,000 British and Commonwealth troops, around 100 world leaders and a television audience of millions.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, placed the 360-year-old St. Edward’s Crown on Charles’ head in Westminster Abbey on Saturday, during a solemn two-hour service.
Charles’s second wife Camilla was also crowned Queen with the St Mary’s Crown.
The king vowed to rule justly and to uphold the Church of England, of which he is the titular head. He was then hidden from prying eyes by a screen for the most sacred part of the ceremony, when he was anointed with holy oil on his hands, head and chest, consecrated in Jerusalem.
After being given symbolic regalia, Welby placed the St. Edward’s Crown on his head and the congregation shouted “God save the king”.
‘God save King Charles. Long live King Charles. May the king live forever,” said the congregation in the abbey after a fanfare of trumpets.
Gun salutes were fired at the Tower of London and in the capital, the country, in Gibraltar, Bermuda and at ships at sea.
The ceremony – televised for only the second time – was an attempt to present a forward-looking monarchy, with those involved reflecting a more diverse country and all of its religions.
King Charles III prayed for a “blessing” for people of “every faith and persuasion”, while Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the coronation was “a cherished ritual with which a new era is being born”.
“No other country could put on such a dazzling display,” he said in a tweet, adding that it is “not just a spectacle.”
“It’s a proud expression of our history, culture and traditions.”
Charles’ eldest son and heir Prince William, 40, then knelt before his father to pledge his loyalty as his “ruler of life and limb”.
Prince Harry, the second born, also attended his father’s coronation ceremony, but played no significant role.
“He had no part to play, this is very similar to his uncle, Prince Andrew,” royal biographer Christopher Wilson told Al Jazeera.
Harry and Andrew are no longer “working” members of the royal family. Harry publicly gave up his role in 2020 and wrote a damning book about the royal family, Spare, while Andrew was stripped of his duties.
“They are unimportant on an occasion like this when the king is crowned. That shows that the difficulties the family faces are trivial compared to the enormity of Charles, who promised the nation that we should all be equal.
Prince Harry’s wife Meghan Markle remained in California with children Lilibet and Archie.
The upper echelons of British society would normally have expected to be massively represented at the coronation, but Charles’s preferred wish for the invitation list was that it be “meritocratic and not aristocratic”.
One hundred heads of state were invited, along with royalty ranging from Japan’s Crown Prince Akishino and his wife, Kiko, to Spain’s King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia.
The US insisted that a president never attended a British royal coronation, even though First Lady Jill Biden traveled to London to attend.
The guest list also included French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission.
World leaders from Russia, Belarus, Myanmar, Afghanistan, Syria, Venezuela and Iran did not attend. For North Korea and Nicaragua, invitations were issued to senior diplomats, rather than heads of state.
Some 10,000 people were expected to attend a coronation concert featuring artists such as Katy Perry, Lionel Richie, Take That and Andrea Bocelli at Windsor Castle.
South African soprano Pretty Yende, who first met King Charles when she was invited by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra to sing at Windsor Castle last year, was chosen to sing solo. She is the first African to do so at a British coronation.
“I’m too excited to be nervous,” she said. “It’s an incredible time in my life as a young girl, as a South African, as an artist, only joy fills my heart.”
‘A historic moment’
Philippe Buch, 33, from France, traveled with a group of Christians from his church to attend the coronation day.
“We are excited because there is an earthly coronation on this day. And at the same time, as Christians, we believe that one day there will be a heavenly coronation just like Jesus did, so we’re excited,” he said.
“It is a historic moment for the UK. So we are excited about that as well.”
Not everyone in the crowd supported the new king. Tom, who declined to give his full name, said he was demonstrating against the royal family.
“I think monarchy is terrible for democracy,” he said, adding that “they are a symbol of the glorification of colonialism.”
In the run-up to the coronation ceremony, twenty thousand uniformed security guards swept not only London, but also the surrounding area.
Members of the anti-monarchy group Republic had gathered at Trafalgar Square in London just hours before the coronation ceremony for a ‘Not My King’ protest.
Graham Smith, the leader of the group, was one of six people arrested before the coronation ceremony.
“This morning Graham Smith and 5 members of our team were arrested. Hundreds of plates were seized. Is this democracy?” the group said in a tweet.
“This is the biggest security operation the UK has seen in decades, bigger than the Olympics and the Queen’s funeral. It is all coordinated from the special operations room central command that has been set up, which is from Lamerth,” Nusrit Mehtab, former Scotland Yard superintendent, told Al Jazeera.
Monday 8 May has been declared a public holiday. The Royal Family has called on Britons to volunteer in their communities.
For nearly a thousand years, the kings and queens of England and the United Kingdom have been crowned in London’s Westminster Abbey in a ceremony that has changed little over the centuries.
38 monarchs have been crowned in the abbey.
The UK’s last coronation took place in 1953 when Queen Elizabeth II was crowned at the age of 27. Since 1601, there has only been one coronation in the month of May.