Coronation of Charles: what traditions are violated (photo, video)

On Saturday, May 6, the coronation of Charles III and Camilla takes place in London. They had already arrived at Westminster Abbey in a golden carriage. The route of the procession from Buckingham Palace passed by Mellom, then through the Admiralty Arch to Trafalgar Square, along Whitehall Street. The procession then proceeded to the square in front of the British Parliament, returned to Broad Sanctuaries and reached the Great West Door of Westminster Abbey. All this took about 30 minutes.

Breaking with tradition, the King and Queen entered the abbey in the Diamond Jubilee State Carriage rather than the old and uncomfortable Golden State Carriage.

In the meantime, more than 2,000 guests had already gathered in the abbey. These are the heads of state and government of different countries. Ukraine is represented by First Lady Olena Zelenska and Prime Minister Denys Shmigal.

The coronation began at 11:00 London time. It is conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby. At the same time, a special coronation chair is used, which is already 700 years old. The Coronation Chair, also known as St Edward’s Chair or King Edward’s Chair (these are different people, Saint Edward is Edward the Confessor, and King Edward who commissioned it is Edward I) is considered the oldest piece of furniture in the UK, which is still used in its original appointment. In total, 26 monarchs sat on it during the coronation.

The archbishop proclaimed Charles III “undisputed king” and asked his subjects to properly serve the monarch. Those gathered several times shouted: “God save the king!” Each greeting was accompanied by the sound of trumpets.

Then the archbishop read the text of the royal oath. He asked Charles if the monarch swore an oath to uphold the law and the Church of England during his reign? Charles laid his hand on the gospel and swore to “do and keep”.

After that, the king’s ceremonial attire was removed. The anointing has begun. This particular ritual marks the monarch’s status as head of the Church of England.

The archbishop poured sacred oil from an ampoule - a golden flask - onto the coronation spoon, and then drew a cross on the forehead, chest and hands of the king.

The ampoule was made for the coronation of Charles II, but its shape reaches an earlier version. According to legend, the first eagle-shaped ampoule was given to St. Thomas Becket by the Virgin Mary herself, who said that from now on all future kings of England would be anointed from it.

The coronation spoon is much older, even outliving Oliver Cromwell, who ordered all the golden royal regalia to be melted down after the victory over the army of the king of the Civil War.

By the way, here you can explain the discrepancy in the names of the British kings. The Germans and the traditions of historiography adopted in the Russian Empire should be blamed for this. This is how it happened historically. The names of English kings and kings were written by Russian historians as they were pronounced in Germany. Therefore, not Henry VIII, but Henry, and Charles, but Charles. Prince William, when he becomes king, will receive the name William V. But this is in Russia, unless, of course, nothing changes there. In Ukraine, it has already been decided at the official level to call Charles Charles III, and not Charles.

A little more about how the organizers of the ceremony imprisoned members of the British royal family during the coronation. At first it was proposed to seat everyone in accordance with their order to the throne. But with this option, Prince Harry would be next to Prince William and Kate Middleton.

We decided to avoid this. Therefore, the first two rows were occupied by those relatives of Charles, who are actively acting as members of the royal family. The Prince and Princess of Wales sat next to Princess Anne, Prince Edward and his wife Sophie.

Prince Harry was in the third row among distant relatives.

Among the most obvious changes to old traditions was the decision to exempt all members of the royal family from kneeling except Prince William. He, as the eldest son and the first in line for the throne, knelt down on one knee in front of his father and swore to serve the king faithfully.

Queen Camilla looked gorgeous in her formal attire.

Prince George, the eldest son of William and Kate, was one of her pages.