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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Chiara Fiorillo & Jennifer Newton

King Charles bans cameras from secret part of Coronation - but Camilla allows them

King Charles banned cameras from a secret part of his Coronation ceremony today - and was even shielded with a screen for his privacy.

The King was officially crowned at Westminster Abbey alongside Queen Camilla in a ceremony attended by more than 2,000 people from around the world.

However, there was one part of the proceedings that nobody got to watch - and the King was even surrounded by a screen to keep it private.

It came during the anointing part of the ceremony, where Charles was blessed with holy oil by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby.

During that moment, the archbishop would have made the sign of the cross on his hand, breast and head with holy oil – regarded as a deeply spiritual moment for a monarch.

But before it took the palace, screens were placed around him, featuring an embroidered design celebrating the Commonwealth.

The anointing of a monarch has never been seen before - and the late Queen used just a canopy during her 1953 Coronation.

But Charles opted for more seclusion behind a central decorated screen, with further screens on either end that enclosed the King on three sides.

However, when it came to the anointing of Queen Camilla later, she broke with tradition - unlike her husband, decided the act could be carried out in full view.

Camilla's anointing also saw her presented with a ring, which "married" her as consort to the King.

She was consecrated with holy oil without being hidden under a canopy, in contrast to the late Queen Mother's coronation.

She also only touched the controversial ivory Queen Consort's Rod with Dove, and the gold Queen Consort’s Sceptre with Cross, rather than holding them like the Queen Mother.

Buckingham Palace previously described the change as "just one of a number of ways in which the service has been adapted, evolved, simplified without losing any of its magic and majesty".

Rishi Sunak is to read from the Bible at the coronation service just days after a prominent historian claimed the Prime Minister has been "invisible" in the preparations for the event.

The Prime Minister, who is a Hindu, had a prominent role in Westminster Abbey with a reading from the Epistle to the Colossians.

Mr Sunak's reading includes the lines: "For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: and he is before all things, and by him all things consist."

In the lead-up to the King's coronation, historian David Starkey claimed Mr Sunak was "not fully grounded in our culture".

Asked to explain his comment, made as he criticised the Prime Minister for being "invisible" in preparations for the coronation, he said: "In terms of religion."

Dr Starkey later insisted his remarks on GB News were not racist, saying he was referring to the Prime Minister being a "typical international liberal" with no interest in British "values".

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