A summary of today's developments
King Charles III and Queen Camilla have been crowned at Westminster Abbey. In a lavish and archaic ritual not seen in Britain since 1953, the king was anointed with holy oil and swore the oath of kings, before the archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, placed Saint Edward’s Crown on his head, to a cry of “God Save the King!”
In front of 2,300 guests including more than 100 heads of state, the king also vowed to maintain the Protestant religion in the United Kingdom, and to preserve the rights of the Church of England, as set out in an act of parliament.
Thousands crammed into the Mall and along a procession route from Buckingham Palace to the Abbey, many camping overnight to secure a good view on the mile-long parade, which involved 7,000 troops and 19 military bands, the most at any state occasion since the 1953 coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.
But there were accusations of police heavy-handedness after a number of anti-royalist protesters, including the head of the UK’s leading anti-monarchy campaign group Republic, were arrested before the beginning of the procession. Graham Smith had been collecting drinks and placards for demonstrators at the main site of the protest when he was detained by police on the Strand at about 7.30am.
Up to 2,000 people gathered in Trafalgar Square beneath a statue of Charles I, who was executed in 1649, chanting and holding yellow placards reading “Not My King”. One sign read: “Don’t you think this is a bit silly?” Anti-monarchy protesters along King Charles’s procession route booed the king as he passed.
Prince William kissed his father after paying homage to him during the service.
Harry, Duke of Sussex, arrived alone at the coronation ceremony after his wife, the Duchess of Sussex, and young children opted not to attend and remain at home in California. The king’s younger son, who stepped back as a working royal in 2020 and later moved to the US, has not been seen in public with the royals since the publication of his memoir Spare earlier this year, in which he was highly critical of his father, his stepmother, Queen Camilla, and brother, the Prince of Wales.
The public were controversially invited to pledge allegiance to the monarch, but the wording was changed at the last moment after days of criticism.
A planned flypast had to be scaled down at the last moment due to adverse weather conditions.
The king and queen and other members of the royal family were cheered by a crowd outside Buckingham Palace when they made a balcony appearance.
The Metropolitan police said 52 arrests had been made around the coronation for affray, public order offences, breach of the peace and conspiracy to cause a public nuisance.
Three people were arrested in the early hours of the morning in the Soho area of London on suspicion of conspiracy to commit public nuisance. The local council, Westminster, said it is “deeply concerned” by reports that volunteers who work on women’s safety were arrested. Among items seized were a number of rape alarms, the force said. The Met said it “received intelligence that indicated groups and individuals seeking to disrupt today’s coronation proceedings were planning to use rape alarms to disrupt the procession”.
The Tory MP Lee Anderson has drawn ire for telling anti-monarchy activists to “emigrate”. The deputy chair of the Conservative party was commenting on the arrests of protesters from the Republic group before the coronation on Saturday morning.
Updated
Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber’s coronation anthem will be heard in Sunday services across the country this weekend as the sheet music has been sent to thousands of churches.
The theatre impresario’s song, Make A Joyful Noise, was performed publicly for the first time on Saturday during the coronation.
Following the ceremony, the music was distributed to 6,000 churches to allow them the chance to perform it during their own services on Sunday and over the coming weeks.
During the coronation, the opening and closing fanfare of the piece was played by the fanfare trumpeters of the Royal Air Force – while the chorus was sung by The Choir of Westminster Abbey.
The Coronation Orchestra, which includes musicians from eight of the world’s leading orchestras, provided accompaniment during the world premiere of the song.
