Summary of the day
The King and the Prince and Princess of Wales have greeted well-wishers on the Mall on the eve of the coronation. Charles, William and Kate made the surprise appearance to the obvious delight of people gathered outside Buckingham Palace.
The Princess of Wales described the king’s coronation as a “great moment for celebration” as her husband William praised the Mall’s “party atmosphere”. The trio shook hands with members of the public as people cheered, took selfies and some sang God Save the King.
Earlier members of the royal family held a lunch at Buckingham Palace for leaders of some of the countries where King Charles III is head of state. Attendees included UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, and prime minister of New Zealand Chris Hipkins. Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Prince Andrew, Duke of York didn’t attend the event, amid continued speculation about what roles they might play in tomorrow’s ceremony.
World leaders including Albanese, Hipkins and Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva have also been welcomed at Downing Street by Sunak. US first lady Dr Jill Biden has spent the day with Akshata Murty, Sunak’s wife.
Anti-monarchist campaigners have vowed to press ahead with plans to protest peacefully against the coronation of King Charles III on Saturday, despite what they have characterised as intimidatory tactics by the police and the government. The activist group Republic plans to hold a demonstration a short walk from where the king is due to be crowned. They have said they received letters from the Home Office warning them about new powers handed to police to deal with public demonstrations, while Scotland Yard has said its tolerance of protest will be low on the day.
King Charles and his wife Camilla, the queen consort, had a final rehearsal for tomorrow’s event in Westminster Abbey.
Charles finds the idea of people paying homage to him “abhorrent”, his friend Jonathan Dimbleby has said on BBC radio while seeking to pin the blame for the proposal on the archbishop of Canterbury. There has been a widespread backlash against the idea of a “homage of the people”, in which the general public is invited to swear allegiance to the king during the coronation on Saturday.
Four British NGOs have called on King Charles to withdraw invitations to Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and the crown prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa in the face of the regime’s human rights record.
The Guardian has said in an editorial that the coronation is “a dated pageant that should be rethought” and that “Many are open to ideas about a better system for a head of state. It is surely time to properly debate them”. You can read that editorial here.
I’m Martin Belam and I will be here with you again tomorrow for the main event. Do join me. Here is a reminder of the procession route and the key times and events.
Four British NGOs have called on King Charles to withdraw invitations to Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and the crown prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa in the face of the regime’s human rights record.
A letter sent to King Charles ahead of Saturday’s coronation said he risked appearing to condone the use of torture and the death penalty by Bahrain as part of a violent crackdown against the opposition since protests began during the Arab spring in 2011.
“Inviting the king and crown Prince of Bahrain to your coronation presents them with an opportunity to whitewash their records and gain international legitimacy. Please, do not allow your coronation to be used to legitimise the repression of King Hamad and his government,” the letter said. “It is not too late to avert the spectacle of these brutal authoritarian rulers walking the red carpet at Westminster Abbey on the first day of your reign.”
The letter was signed by Reprieve, which campaigns against the death penalty, the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (Bird), ALQST For Human Rights and the London Campaign Against Arms Trade.
The letter said an estimated 1,200 political prisoners were in Bahrain’s Jau prison, adding that 26 people have been sentenced to death and are facing imminent execution.
“This invitation pours salt into the wounds of all those who were killed and tortured by King Hamad’s officials without remorse or accountability,” said Bird’s director Sayed Alwadaei.
“As one of those victims myself, it horrifies me. King Charles must not roll out the red carpet for a dictator and provide him with the opportunity to gain international legitimacy.”
The letter said an activist was arrested in 2016 for criticising a visit by the then Prince Charles. It added that exiled Bahrainis in the UK who have protested have had family members arrested in reprisal.
Backing the letter, East Lothian Alba MP Kenny MacAskill said: “The attendance of Bahrain’s dictator is an insult to his [regime’s] victims, some of whom were forced to seek exile in the UK and whose family members have faced reprisals for their decision to protest his presence in this country.”
The regime has denied using torture or mistreating prisoners.
Activists to protest at coronation despite stiffer police powers
Anti-monarchist campaigners have vowed to press ahead with plans to protest peacefully against the coronation of King Charles III on Saturday, despite what they have characterised as intimidatory tactics by the police and the government.
The activist group Republic plans to hold a demonstration a short walk from where the king is due to be crowned. They have said they received letters from the Home Office warning them about new powers handed to police to deal with public demonstrations, while Scotland Yard has said its tolerance of protest will be low on the day.
“Republic will not be deterred and we will be protesting on Trafalgar Square and along the route of the coronation procession on Saturday,” said Republic’s chief executive, Graham Smith.
“It is telling that Charles, who has had no problem speaking up on various issues, has chosen not to defend democratic rights when they are being threatened in his name. Perhaps he might make it clear that he believes in the right to protest.”
The group said it received communication from the Home Office’s police powers unit that new powers had been brought forward to prevent “disruption at major sporting and cultural events”.
Under those powers, blocking roads, airports and railways could bring prison sentences of 12 months, while people locking on to others, objects or buildings could go to prison for six months and face an unlimited fine. Police have also been empowered to stop and search people if they suspect they are setting out to cause disruption by protesting.
Read more here: Activists to protest at coronation despite stiffer police powers
While they were out and about on the Mall earlier, the Princess of Wales described the king’s coronation as a “great moment for celebration” as her husband praised the Mall’s “party atmosphere”.
William and Kate had joined King Charles for an unscheduled walkabout in the Mall meeting royalists who have already staked their spot for tomorrow’s events.
PA report the king shook dozens of outstretched hands and laughed when one man asked if he was “nervous for tomorrow”, while Kate told one person she had an early start tomorrow but the occasion “is a great moment for celebration”.
When one woman told William she had flown from Phoenix, Arizona, and would be camping out overnight, he replied “No way, well done you.”
He added with a smile: “There’s not much sleeping going on around here, they’re all sat in their chairs. I think there’s a good party atmosphere.”
I know what I will be doing tomorrow, which is watching the coronation of King Charles III and live blogging it. These Guardian readers have made other plans though, and I do recommend this piece not least of which because George the border collie features and he looks like a very good boy indeed. Hopefully all of them will end up at least glancing at the live blog for a bit. Maybe not George. He probably can’t read.
Read more here: ‘Catching up on weeding’: readers share plans for King Charles’s coronation
I mentioned earlier that at least one band – Pride’s Purge – has done a new version of Sex Pistols iconic God Save The Queen as God Save The King, but now it seems like Sex Pistol Glen Matlock is doing the same.
PA news are carrying a story that the bassist is struggling to rework the lyrics for a performance at the 100 Club in London on Saturday.
Matlock told the PA news agency: “When you start changing one word, you’ve got to change them all. There’s not that many words that kind of rhyme nicely with king apart from bling, ming, it’s not great. I’ll probably just sort of make it up as I go along, so if you want to find out what the new lyrics might be, you better come on down because it’ll probably be on the spur of the moment.”
He also said he won’t be watching the coronation as he will be “deciding what shirt to wear” and be busy doing a sound check.
Matlock also made a more serious point, however, saying:
There’s just so many people in destitution at the moment in this country. I think it’s kind of rubbing their noses in it a little bit. It’s all a distraction but that’s the country we live in.
I think things are bleak for a lot of people and I think the royal family is, like, kind of pretty much the same as Love Island or X Factor. They’re kind of the opium of the masses, just keeping people quiet, I think.
This is England and that’s the way it is, what can I do about it? I just can rail against it every now and then.
PA have spoken to some of the people who met the royal family when King Charles did a short walkabout outside Buckingham Palace earlier, accompanied by the Prince and Princess of Wales.
Gillian Holmes, 66, of Redcar told the news agency: “He just came over, couldn’t believe our eyes, that we were seeing him and he shook my hand and said ‘thank you for coming’ and it was absolutely amazing, just surreal. My daughter said her legs were shaking, she was in shock. It was fantastic, just wonderful. I never ever dreamt that I would meet the King, I can’t believe it.”
Theresa Iredale, who turns 66 on Saturday, was approached by the king during his walkabout on Friday. She said: “He said ‘thank you for coming’ and he appreciated it and I did say it my birthday and he said ‘oh, congratulations’. I was shaking. I saw his hand coming out to mine and I was like, I can’t believe I’m shaking the king’s hand. A special moment.”
Asked if she thought Charles’ attention was drawn by the fact she was wearing a plastic crown, she said “I think, actually, I was screaming a bit to be honest.”
King Charles is currently at a Commonwealth heads of government leaders meeting and garden reception at Marlborough House.
Marina Hyde is significantly funnier than I ever am, and today she has inevitably turned her withering gaze on the coronation:
It must be said that the full-spectrum reverence of the run-up to the coronation can leave one always on the point of collapsing into giggles. I hugely enjoyed a Spectator article this week about the spoon used to anoint the sovereign with holy oil, which was described as a “very special one” (agreed), “one of the most beautiful examples of that humble genus” (OK), and “doubtless the world’s most important spoon” (sorry, I’ve gone).
Royalty remains, with a few notable resignations, a family firm, and Prince William and his wife, Kate, have spent the big game buildup engaged in typical tasks for the royals of our era. They go to a gym, where they must gigglingly ride exercise bikes; they go to a pub, where they must gigglingly pull pints. The giggling is key: the royals must show themselves keen to laugh at their relative ineptitude at these tasks, gamely participating in photographs whose message always seems to be: “We are not skilled enough to be ordinary people such as your good selves – thank you for bearing with us!”
This maladroitness is very bad when politicians do it (see Rishi Sunak at the petrol station) but very good when the royals do it. It is the form of duty on which we have settled for them in the modern age.
Read more here: Marina Hyde – A day for Charles, our mournful monarch: in his pomp but out of his time
Brands can tie themselves up in knots trying to do things associated with a national event like a coronation. With an eye perhaps to the Daily Star’s lettuce that outlasted Liz Truss last year, the supermarket Iceland are claiming to live stream one of its coronation chicken Yorkshire puddings. I probably can’t, as it wouldn’t make for a great live blog tomorrow, but Iceland are suggesting you could watch it instead of the coronation.
One thing that has frequently occurred to me while doing live coverage of first the death of the late Queen Elizabeth II, and now the coronation of her son, is that nobody working in any newsroom in 2023 has personal experience of covering these events, since the last time newsrooms were dealing with the death of a monarch and a coronation was 70 years ago. But we do have our archives, and I have really enjoyed this gallery of pictures from the Guardian archives of preparations for the coronations in 1937 and 1953. Keep scrolling because there is a great dog ten pictures in.
Ukraine’s ministry of defence has used the occasion of the coronation of King Charles III to issue a video thanking the UK for its assistance during the Russian invasion.
Soundtracked by The Clash’s London Calling, the clip shows Ukrainian service personnel using UK-supplied weapons, and also features clips of Volodymyr Zelenskiy meeting King Charles, former prime minister Boris Johnson, current British prime minister Rishi Sunak, and the leader of the opposition Keir Starmer, as well as British forces training Ukrainian soldiers.
On the eve of the historic coronation, we'd like to thank our British friends for your friendship. We are grateful for your unwavering support and partnership, especially in the past year! pic.twitter.com/bJgg4Qfsr5
— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) May 5, 2023
By the way, if you were still thinking of making your way to view the coronation procession tomorrow, here is a reminder of the route. It is scheduled to start at 10.20am BST, with the return trip from Westminster Abbey back to the place at 1pm BST.
King Charles and the Prince and Princess of Wales greet people outside Buckingham Palace
The King and the Prince and Princess of Wales have greeted well-wishers on the Mall on the eve of the coronation.
Charles, William and Kate made the surprise appearance to the delight of huge crowds gathered outside Buckingham Palace.
The trio shook hands with members of the public as people cheered, took selfies and some sang God Save the King. The royal family then got back into their cars and drove the few metres back into the palace.
On Sky News, a reporter at the scene said that “a sedate quiet crowd” surged and suddenly turned “to a very excitable throng” when the members of the royal family appeared.
One person who saw the royals described it to viewers saying “it is the best day of my entire life.”
King Charles and the Prince and Princess of Wales have walked out of Buckingham Palace to greet some of the people that have gathered already at the Mall.
King Charles, Prince William and Kate greet crowds in London on The Mall ://bbc.in/3NCKVE4 pic.twitter.com/sCoDxKxz3W
— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) May 5, 2023
As well as all the people gathering in central London, there have been plenty of low-level protests about the monarchy and the coronation. I particularly enjoyed this redecoration of the coronation bunting in one of my local pubs in Walthamstow earlier this week.
Also coming out of Walthamstow – well at least one of the members of the band is – is a reworking of the Sex Pistols’ classic punk anthemn God Save The Queen as God Save The King.
It has been raining in bursts in central London. Here are some shots of the people who have already gathered well ahead of tomorrow’s coronation.
Commonwealth leaders gather at Buckingham Palace
PA has a little more detail on the lunch that has been held at Buckingham Palace.
There were 42 attendees in total, including UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, and prime minister of New Zealand Chris Hipkins.
From the royal family there were the king, the Prince and Princess of Wales, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, the Princess Royal and Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and the Duke of Kent.
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Prince Andrew, Duke of York don’t appear to have attended, amid much speculation about what roles they might play in tomorrow’s ceremony.
Later, Charles, who is head of the Commonwealth, will also attend a Commonwealth Heads of Government leaders’ meeting and garden reception at Marlborough House.
Updated
There is a 70% chance of showers at the same time a flypast to celebrate the king’s coronation is due to take place, forecasters say.
Royal fans who will be in London to celebrate the occasion are advised to bring umbrellas, cagoules and waterproof jackets with dreary weather expected.
Royal Air Force air chief marshal Sir Michael Wigston has said “it’s 50/50” as to whether a flypast scheduled to fly over the Mall and Buckingham Palace after 2.15pm will take place if there is rain and low cloud.
It is due to consist of more than 60 aircraft including the Red Arrows display team, but a final decision will be made just one or two hours before it is due to start.
Met Office meteorologist Alex Deakin told the PA news agency: “There will be outbreaks of rain in London from 8am onwards, nothing too heavy, it’s just going to be a bit grey, damp and drizzly.
“It won’t rain all morning, just a bit on-and-off with some drizzle, it may stop for half an hour or so and come back again, that kind of thing.”
Having carried those quotes earlier about India having little interest in the coronation [see 12.47 BST], this picture caught my eye on the news wires, showing some young art students in Mumbai putting the finishing touches to their King Charles artworks.
The palace has issued a series of photos taken this afternoon at a realm governors general and prime ministers lunch, ahead of the coronation. In attendence were the king, queen consort, and the Prince and Princess of Wales.
A town’s coronation party had to be cancelled after organisers failed to raise any money to cover costs, claiming there was a “lack of interest”.
PA Media reports Caldicot, in south-east Wales, was due to host a celebration in the town centre complete with big screen and children’s entertainment, but with just over a week to go the event was axed.
In an online post, Caldicot Town Team said a crowdfunding page had been running for 16 days, but despite being promoted on social media it had “failed to raise any money whatsoever”.
The post added: “Caldicot Town Team have taken the decision that in the current financial crisis, it would not be a good investment of funds, and could be better spent throughout the year, such as Family Fun Day and Street Food Festivals.”
It comes as other parties around the UK are cancelled, including one due to be held at The Rotary Club in Exmouth, east Devon, which failed to sell enough tickets to pay for it.
US first lady Jill Biden has been welcomed to Downing Street by the prime minister’s wife Akshata Murty.
PA Media reports Dr Biden put down her umbrella to pose for photos with Akshata Murty outside the No 10 door.
Biden and Murty were expected to hold private talks in Downing Street.
Murty also greeted Finnegan Biden, the granddaughter of Biden and the president, who has accompanied the first lady to the UK to attend the coronation.
Updated
In India, another country fomerly subjugated by the British empire, Associate Press reports there is scant media attention and very little interest in the coronation. Some people living in the country’s vast rural areas may not have even heard of King Charles III.
“India has moved on,” and most Indians “have no emotional ties with the royal family,” Pavan K Varma, a writer and former diplomat, said. Instead, the royals are seen more like amusing celebrities, he said.
And while the country still values its economic and cultural ties with the European country, Varma pointed out that India’s economy has overtaken the UK’s.
“Britain has shrunk globally into a medium-sized power,” he said. “This notion needs to be removed, that here is a former colony riveted to the television watching the coronation of Prince Charles. I don’t think this is happening in India.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has pushed to erase colonial “symbols of slavery” from the country’s time repressed under the British crown. Colonial-era street names, some laws and flag symbols have been removed.
“I don’t think we should care much about (the royals),” Milind Akhade, a photographer in New Delhi, told AP. “They enslaved us for so many years.”
Associated Press has been gauging interest around the world in the coronation, noting that when King Charles III is crowned on Saturday, soldiers carrying flags from the Bahamas, South Africa, Tuvalu and beyond will march alongside British troops in a spectacular military procession in honour of the monarch.
For some, the scene will affirm the ties that bind Britain and its former colonies. But for many others in the Commonwealth, a group of nations mostly made up of places once claimed by the British empire, Charles’ coronation is seen with apathy at best.
In those countries, the first crowning of a British monarch in 70 years is an occasion to reflect on oppression and colonialism’s bloody past. The displays of pageantry in London will jar especially with growing calls in the Caribbean to sever all ties with the monarchy.
“Interest in British royalty has waned since more Jamaicans are waking to the reality that the survivors of colonialism and the holocaust of slavery are yet to receive reparatory justice,” the Rev Sean Major-Campbell, an Anglican priest in the Jamaican capital, Kingston, said.
The coronation is “only relevant in so far as it kicks us in the face with the reality that our head of state is simply so by virtue of biology,” Major-Campbell added.
Rosalea Hamilton, an advocate for changing Jamaica’s constitution to get rid of the royals, said she was organizing a coronation day forum to engage more Jamaicans in the process of political reform.
The timing of the event is meant to “signal to the head of state that the priority is to move away from his leadership, rather than focus on his coronation,” Hamilton said.
At 74 years old, Charles III is the oldest monarch ever to take the throne. At the same age, his mother was gearing up for her golden jubilee. And in this special podcast today, Guardian columnist Jonathan Freedland tells Maeve McClenaghan this means there will be a very different tone from the last coronation.
Rather than a country crowning a young queen who was virtually unknown as a public figure, Charles’s views on everything from architecture to ecology have been widely aired. And his reign will be as an old man.
He also arrives on the throne with a lot more known about his private wealth. As the Guardian has shown in its groundbreaking Cost of the Crown series, he can lay claim to assets of more than £1.8bn. As Britain faces a cost of living crisis, the Treasury has coughed up an estimated £100m for the weekend’s event. Should the family have funded it themselves?
Here’s the podcast …
Here is a picture of King Charles leaving Westminster Abbey earlier today after the final rehearsal for tomorrow’s ceremony.
The British ambassador to Ukraine, Dame Melinda Simmons, has been doing her bit for the coronation Kyiv, despite it being a week when Russia has launched strikes on Ukraine’s capital.
My plus one for our #Coronation event in #Kyiv pic.twitter.com/kHarR2erlw
— Dame Melinda Simmons (@MelSimmonsFCDO) May 5, 2023
Ukraine is being represented at the coronation by Olena Zelenska. Yesterday she visited the British Library in London to look at some of its Ukrainian collection with Rishi Sunak’s wife, Akshata Murty.
As mentioned earlier, it is worth remembering that this isn’t just a coronation for the UK, despite it taking place in London. King Charles III will be a head of state in countries and territories spread across the globe, including Canada, Australia, New Zealand and several Caribbean countries, as well as some scattered smaller islands.
Barbados ditched the Queen and became a republic in 2021, with Belize and Jamaica likely to follow suit.
Yesterday Oliver Laughland reported for the Guardian that the prime minister of Belize, Johnny Briceño, had sharply criticised Rishi Sunak’s refusal to apologise for Britain’s role in the transatlantic slave trade, and said it was “quite likely” Belize would be the next member of the Commonwealth realm to become a republic.
His comments came as a senior member of the Jamaican government said it would begin a process after the coronation to bring in an elected head of state.
Briceño, who leads Belize’s centre-left People’s United party, took office in 2020, and in 2021 passed a parliamentary resolution committing the government to seek reparatory justice from the UK “on behalf of the former slaves and their descendants of Belize”.
Belize is one of 14 members of the Commonwealth realm, where the crown remains the symbolic head of state. It is the only country within the realm that King Charles III has never visited.
Caroline Kimeu reports from Nairobi that the distant familiarity and affection many in the Commonwealth had with the Queen does not necessarily extend to her son:
On the streets of Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, questions about the coronation are met with a blank stare. “That one, I’ve never heard of,” says David Ouma, a 36-year-old taxi driver.
There is no buzz or chatter about the coronation of Charles III among the market traders or in the pubs – although it’s likely to make the front page of newspapers at the weekend.
“I was thinking of gathering some friends to watch it, but I don’t know if there’ll be interest unless I package it as a catchup,” says Ken Gichinga, 38, an economist.
What public interest in the royals there was in the African Commonwealth countries, such as Kenya and Nigeria, has shifted over the past few years as citizens focus on pressing national concerns. But the anointing of the king is likely to reignite debate around Britain’s brutal colonial history, as happened across the Commonwealth after the death of the queen.
As he edges his way through rush-hour traffic in the suburb of Kilimani, Uber driver Joseph Njoroge, 45, is confused by the question. “I thought when his mum died he had already become king? I only know him as the heir but don’t know much about his personality.”
Anne Macharia, a 43-year-old pharmacist, is also vague on the subject as she lifts her groceries from a trolley into her car at the shopping mall. “I know the coronation is this Saturday. I will watch if time allows. He was prince for a long time so it would be nice to see him get crowned.”
You can read more of Caroline Kimeu’s report here: ‘That one I’ve never heard of’ – Africans unimpressed with Charles celebrations
Talking of children, the former school of King Charles, Gordonstoun, has sent out a press release to say that the junior schoolchildren there will be holding their own mini-coronation today. It lets us know that:
Hamish Montgomery, aged 6, will play the part of King Charles and will be accompanied by Jessica Cook, aged 7, who will play the part of Queen Camilla. The ‘royal couple’ will travel by pony and trap down the school’s ‘silent walk’ to its historic Michael’s Kirk, where the real King would once have worshipped whilst at school.
When asked if he had any advice for our King ahead of the Coronation, Hamish said “have a bath”. His ‘wife’ the ‘Queen’ added, “and porridge for breakfast”. They both agreed they are very excited about the performance.
I must confess I don’t know if either of my children are doing anything special at their schools today for the coronation, but I suspect if they are that it won’t involve a pony and trap.
A children’s biography of King Charles III has topped the UK book chart before the coronation on 6 May.
Maria Isabel Sánchez Vegara’s King Charles is part of the Little People, Big Dreams series, which includes illustrated biographies of notable figures such as Stephen Hawking and Michelle Obama.
The nonfiction book, illustrated by Matt Hunt, is the first of the Little People, Big Dreams series to reach No 1. It sold 15,786 copies in the seven days to 29 April, overtaking Marian Keyes’ novel Again, Rachel, a sequel to romcom Rachel’s Holiday.
Other coronation-themed titles to sell well last week include the Official Coronation Souvenir Programme, Winnie-the-Pooh Meets the King, and Nicholas Allan’s The King’s Pants, a follow-up to the 1993 book The Queen’s Knickers. “Interestingly, most of them appear within the children’s market rather than the adult one,” said Philip Stone at Nielsen BookData, the company that publishes the UK book chart. The Mr Men Little Miss series has also published a themed title, The New King.
Read more here: Illustrated children’s biography of King Charles hits No 1 on UK book chart
PA Media have spoken to one of the people already camping out for the coronation, a married mother of four who joked that her children think she is “mad” and having a “midlife crisis” because she is already on the Mall in central London for the coronation.
Kim Bilson, 54, from Poole, Dorset, said: “It’s too big of an occasion to miss really, don’t want to look back at it and think, why didn’t we do it. It’s a lovely atmosphere here, meeting people from all over the place.”
She arrived at about 6pm on Thursday and said it was a “cold” and “noisy” experience camping out overnight.
But she added: “People are just so friendly. It’s just Britain at its best, everybody nattering to everybody. There’s no stiff upper lip, everybody’s here for the same reason and it’s just really nice.”
Perhaps the most interesting development so far today has been the suggestion from someone close to the king that he does not approve of the idea of the people’s oath, as Harriet Sherwood reports:
King Charles finds the idea of people paying homage to him “abhorrent”, his friend Jonathan Dimbleby has said while seeking to pin the blame for the proposal on the archbishop of Canterbury.
There has been a widespread backlash against the idea of a “homage of the people”, in which the general public is invited to swear allegiance to the king during the coronation on Saturday.
Dimbleby told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I can think of nothing that [Charles] would find more abhorrent. He’s never wanted to be revered. He’s never wanted, as far as I know, to have anyone pay homage to him, except in mock terms as a joke.
“He wants, I think, to feel that people will share in the event – and I don’t quite know how this might have happened. I don’t know for certain but it would seem to me that this was an initiative by the archbishop who, as we know, is strongly evangelical, who thought it would be a good thing to give everyone a chance to pay that homage. I think it was well-intentioned and rather ill-advised.”
Dimbleby, a veteran broadcaster who has been a close friend of Charles for about 30 years and has recorded many interviews with him, is likely to be familiar with the king’s thinking.
You can read more on that here: Charles would find oath of loyalty ‘abhorrent’, says Jonathan Dimbleby
In the UK’s press today, most of the papers to feature a royal story have a focus on the Prince and Princess of Wales out and about yesterday on London’s Crossrail and in a pub. The Daily Mail has a slightly more political angle, expressing outrage at the choice of Chinese delegate in Westminster Abbey, while the Telegraph curiously opts to lead with a piece about the music for the ceremony.
Friday's Mail: "China's coronation 'insult' to Britain"#BBCPapers #TomorrowsPapersToday https://t.co/lNyDvoYkUH pic.twitter.com/bp2yd4nGlC
— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) May 4, 2023
Friday's Telegraph: "Coronation anthem is 'made for churches'"#BBCPapers #TomorrowsPapersToday https://t.co/jn1wXieuFj pic.twitter.com/XFa094gePQ
— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) May 4, 2023
Friday’s SUN: “Cheers!” #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/S7xponCvQg
— Allie Hodgkins-Brown (@AllieHBNews) May 4, 2023
Friday’s Daily EXPRES: “ ‘Huge Burden’ But King ‘Relaxed’ “. #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/yCXVVONH8U
— Allie Hodgkins-Brown (@AllieHBNews) May 4, 2023
Speaking of the Guardian’s attitude to the coronation and the monarchy in general, that was the topic of an editorial in print today. Here is an extract:
The coronation is certainly not taking place because of public demand or enthusiasm for the monarchy or the new king. A mere 9% of British adults say that they care “a great deal” about this weekend’s events. Only 7% describe themselves as committed royalists, willing to give uncritical support to the monarchy. It seems gratuitous to be paying £250m for a coronation during a cost of living crisis.
Nor can it be seen as a symbolic new chapter for the nation. The 1953 coronation of the then 27-year-old Elizabeth was widely depicted as an event designed to bring colour and hope to postwar Britain – perhaps even as the start of a new age. Charles, by contrast, is the oldest monarch to take the British throne. His life story, his family problems and his ways are familiar. Britain will not change this weekend.
The overwhelming truth is that the coronation is taking place for anachronistic religious and constitutional reasons. This weekend’s events are centred on a religious service in which Charles vows to uphold the Protestant religion, is anointed with holy oil and swears an oath which, in words that the archbishop of Canterbury will intone in Westminster Abbey on Saturday, commits to making Britain “a holy nation” under “a royal priesthood”.
Yet modern Britain is not a holy nation. Nor is it even a largely Protestant one. Britain instead is increasingly secular, even though it remains deeply imprinted, in ways it sometimes does not grasp, by its long Christian history. England and Wales have become minority Christian countries. Yet England, although not Scotland, Wales or either part of Ireland, has an established state church. Whether this can or should continue ought to be a subject of serious public debate. But it never is.
You can read it in full here: The Guardian view on the coronation of Charles III – a dated pageant that should be rethought
You may have noticed recently that we have been testing a new way for readers to message live bloggers directly. You should – on mobile web or desktop at least, it hasn’t been rolled out in our app – find an option to message me near to my byline. These aren’t public comments, they go directly to me. I will try and read everything, but I can’t guarantee I will reply, although hopefully it will improve the blog for everybody.
What sort of messages are useful? For a start if you spot my inevitable typos, or notice that I’ve mistaken the Earl of Devesham for Sir Cheldon Bonniface in a picture caption, or you think I’ve got some aspect of the ceremony wrong, that is very useful to know. I’m also keen to hear from you if you think there is something I’ve missed in our coverage, or something you don’t understand and would like more context for.
What is less useful? The comments are just going to me. If you want to let the Guardian know how you feel about the very existence of the monarchy, and our coverage of the coronation in general, can I gently direct you to guardian.letters@guardian.co.uk instead?
In a slightly less expected development ahead of tomorrow’s coronation, PA Media reports that train passengers on platforms across the UK are being reminded to “mind the gap” by King Charles in a pre-recorded message.
Charles and Camilla have recorded an announcement which is being played between Friday and Monday at every railway station across the UK and all London Underground stations, industry body the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) said.
In the message, the king begins by telling passengers: “My wife and I wish you and your families a wonderful coronation weekend.”
Camilla then says: “Wherever you are travelling, we hope you have a safe and pleasant journey.”
The message concludes with Charles adding: “And remember, please mind the gap.”
It was recorded at Highgrove earlier this year by the audio team from Transport for London.
Updated
A coronation washout is forecast for many this weekend with rain and drizzle likely to provide a quintessentially British backdrop to the royal pomp and pageantry.
Saturday, the day of the formal ceremony, is forecast by the Met Office to be a cloudy and wet day for many, including in the capital around midday, just as King Charles III is being crowned.
Showers are likely to develop in central, eastern and northern areas, as well as across Northern Ireland, but not expected to be as intense or as heavy as those on Friday.
The Met Office’s deputy chief forecaster, Steven Keates, said: “A further area of rain is expected to move into south-west England early on Saturday, moving east and north through the day with some heavy bursts at times.
What to expect at the king’s coronation: key events and timings
Saturday 6 May
6am BST: Viewing areas open along the 1.3-mile procession route from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey.
7.15-8.30am: Guests for Westminster Abbey begin to arrive.
9am: Congregation to be seated inside the abbey.
9.30-10.45am: Heads of state, overseas government representatives, government ministers, first ministers, former prime ministers, foreign royals and members of the royal family arrive.
9.45am: The Sovereign’s Escort of the Household Cavalry begin to gather for the procession from Buckingham Palace.
10.20am: The king and queen consort’s procession sets off from the palace.
10.53am: The king and queen consort arrive at Westminster Abbey.
11am: They enter the Abbey through the Great West Door and the service begins.
12pm: The king is crowned. The archbishop of Canterbury places the St Edward’s crown on his head. Trumpets will sound and gun salutes will be fired across the UK.
1pm: The service ends and the newly crowned king and queen begin their coronation procession back to Buckingham Palace in the gold state coach.
1.33pm: The king and queen consort enter Buckingham Palace through the Centre Arch.
1.45pm: The king and queen receive a royal salute from the military in the palace gardens
Approximately 2.15pm: The king, queen and members of the royal family appear on the palace balcony to watch the flypast – weather permitting.
Sunday 7 May
The monarchy wants Sunday to be a day of street parties and coronation “Big Lunches”, with about 3,000 road closures for parties, and members of the royal family attending some events.
At 7pm BST there will be a concert in the grounds of Windsor Castle. The event will be watched by a crowd of 20,000 members of the public and invited guests and broadcast on television and radio.
Welcome and opening summary …
In roughly 24 hours, Westminster Abbey will be staging its first coronation since 1953 as Charles III is formally crowned King. We’ve had the debate about who is and who isn’t coming, the night time rehearsals, the new waxworks, the merchandise and a rather lukewarm response from some Guardian readers to the people being asked to offer up an oath, and now it is time for the final preparations.
Follow the build-up live with us to a day of constitutional significance not just for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, but for all of the countries and territories who are tomorrow seeing their new King annointed as their sovereign. Here is where we are today …
People have already started gathering along the route of tomorrow’s coronation procession.
The King and Queen Consort have arrived at Westminster Abbey for their final rehearsal ahead of the coronation.
Prime minister Rishi Sunak has greeted his New Zealand and Australian counterparts Chris Hipkins and Anthony Albanese at Downing Street.
