A new announcement from Buckingham Palace has confirmed the official plans for King Charles III's coronation in May this year.
The new monarch has been under fire recently following the explosive release of Prince Harry's memoir, Spare, reports the Mirror. The King will get his special day as millions will gather to watch on, following a difficult beginning to his reign.
Huge crowds are expected to appear in London for the ceremony on May 6, 2023 - as Queen Consort Camilla will also be officially crowned. Following the ceremony, a special concert will be held on May 7 at Windsor Castle - with celebrations to continue into a Bank Holiday Monday.
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Members of the public will get the chance to attend the concert on the Sunday, as long as they enter a ballot, the Palace has announced. The official statement also added that "some of the world's biggest entertainers" are set to perform.
Other aspects of the celebrations include a "coronation big lunch", similar to the late Queen's jubilee in 2022. On the Monday members of the public are being urged to take part in 'The Big Help Out' by volunteering to do good work in their community, the palace said.
The coronation is set to take place almost eight months after the death of the Queen - a tradition dating back centuries to make sure it is a joyful occasion.
Although the crown was automatically passed to Charles after the death of his mother, the historic service will see him take an oath before being anointed and blessed by the Archbishop of Canterbury. He will also sit atop the 700-year-old chair that belonged to King Edward.
As the cost of living crisis continues to rage on across the UK, it is expected that the Royal Family will scale back the ceremony in comparison to his mother's in 1953, in order to be more current with today's times.
However, hundreds of dignitaries from around the world are expected to pack into Westminster Abbey - just like they did in September 2022 for the late Queen's funeral. Huge crowds are also expected on the streets of London.
According to the palace it will be "a solemn religious service, as well as an occasion for celebration and pageantry". They also claimed that the coronation will "reflect the monarch's role today and look towards the future, while being rooted in longstanding traditions and pageantry".
A lot will be made into if Meghan and Prince Harry will attend the ceremony, as family members typically join the newly anointed King and Queen Consort on the balcony at Buckngham Palace to conclude the celebrations.
It is also unclear how visible Prince Andrew, who was removed from frontline royal duties over links to paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, will be on the day.
Read on below to find out all you need to know about King Charles III's coronation, set to begin on May 6, 2023.
King Charles' coronation - Day One, Saturday May 6, 2023
The main event, the coronation, will take place at Westminster Abbey on Saturday, May 6, 2023.
Charles and Camilla will arrive together in a march leading from Buckingham Palace - which is known as "the King's procession". After the service, they will return to the Palace in a larger ceremonial parade, known as the "coronation procession".
It is at Buckingham Palace where they will be joined by other members of the Royal Family. Then, Charles and Camilla will be joined by family members on the balcony to conclude the day's ceremonial events.
Officials have not confirmed which family members will appear in the coronation procession or on the balcony. In a statement, the palace said: "The Service will be conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury. As previously announced, the Service will reflect the Monarch’s role today and look towards the future, while being rooted in longstanding traditions and pageantry."
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said tens of thousands of people are expected to visit London to experience the coronation.
Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan has stated that the ceremony is "a huge milestone in the history of the UK and Commonwealth". She added that the weekend of events will bring people across the globe together to celebrate "the mixture of tradition and modernity, culture and community that makes our country great".
Windsor Castle Concert - Day Two, Sunday May 7, 2023
A special Coronation Concert will also be broadcast live at Windsor Castle by the BBC Studios, with thousands of tickets to be made available via a public ballot.
The audience will also include volunteers from the King and Queen Consort's charity affiliations. The show will also feature a world-class orchestra that will play interpretations of musical favourites, fronted by "some of the world's biggest entertainers, alongside performers from the world of dance".
The performances will be supported by staging and effects located on the castle's east lawn and will also include a selection of spoken word sequences delivered by stars of stage and screen.
Other appearances include a diverse group called The Coronation Choir, that will be created from the nation's keenest community choirs and amateur singers from across the UK, such as refugee choirs, NHS choirs, LGBTQ+ singing groups and deaf signing choirs.
A documentary surrounding The Coronation Choir will be aired, exploring their formation, and it will tell the stories of the people representing the many faces and voices of the country.
The Coronation Choir will appear alongside The Virtual Choir, made up of singers from across the Commonwealth, for a special performance on the night.
Buckingham Palace confirmed that the centrepiece of the coronation concert, dubbed "lighting up the nation", will see the country join together in celebration as landmarks across the UK are lit up using drone displays, illuminations, projections and lasers.
Meanwhile, people will be asked to join together on the Sunday for a "coronation big lunch". This will be overseen and organised by the Big Lunch team at the Eden Project. The Queen Consort has been patron of the Big Lunch since 2013.
The Palace also confirmed that thousands of events are expected to take place in streets, gardens and parks across the country.
Bank Holiday - Day Three, Monday May 8, 2023
A bank holiday has been set aside for volunteering on Monday, May 8 - and is being billed as "the big help out".
This volunteering project has been organised by The Together Coalition and a wide range of partners including:
The Scouts
The Royal Voluntary Service
Faith groups from across the UK
The Big Help Out aims to highlight the positive impact that volunteering has on various communities. Buckingham Palace said that in tribute to the King's public service, the Big Help Out "will encourage people to try volunteering for themselves and join the work being undertaken to support their local areas".
The aim of the day is to use volunteering to bring communities together and create a lasting volunteering legacy from the coronation weekend.
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