Ancient Coronation Ceremony

The Coronation is an ancient ceremony that dates back more than 1,000 years, with the last one seen 70 years ago.

That means many won’t be too familiar with the sacred and poignant stages of the service that all carried out during King Charles’ big moment at Westminster Abbey on May 6.

The blueprint of Coronation ceremonies dates to 937 and the crowning of King Edgar. Now, almost 11 centuries on, a coronation remains a deeply religious occasion which is steeped in pageantry.

A special event. King Charles III ‘s coronation is the first ceremony for a British monarch in the 21st century — but it continued to follow royal tradition.

The service, which took place in May 2023, was held at Westminster Abbey six months after Queen Elizabeth II‘s funeral. Although the ceremony underwent some changes to include various faiths and communities, the basics remained the same.

The Archbishop of Canterbury was present to crown Charles in a practice that has taken place since 1066. His coronation is the 40th to occur at Westminster Abbey — and was broadcast for the public to experience.

Charles originally assumed his place as sovereign immediately after his mother’s passing at age 96 in September 2022.

During his ceremony, Charles’ wife, Queen Consort Camilla, was also crowned in a smaller service. Elizabeth previously discussed her hope for Camilla to inherit that title of queen consort upon Charles’ accession as king.

The Recognition

During the first part of the ceremony, the sovereign stood in the central space of Westminster Abbey to showed themselves to the people. From there, the Archbishop of Canterbury asked the congregation and choir to show their homage and service.

The Oath

The coronation continued with the monarch delivering an oath where they promise to reign according to law. They also vowed to exercise justice with mercy and maintain the Church of England.

In the second part of the coronation ceremony, the person about to take the thrown approached the altar and kissed the Bible before signing the oath.

The King is anointed.

Following the oath, the sovereign is anointed and blessed by the Archbishop of Canterbury with holy oil. The King removed his robe and sat in King Edward’s chair while the archbishop performs the next step with an ampulla and an anointing spoon.

Then, for the first time in coronation history, the archbishop invited the British public, as well as those from “other Realms,” to recite a pledge of allegiance to the newly crowned monarch and his “heirs and successors.”

After the ceremony, the newly crowned King and Queen rode back to Buckingham Palace in a much larger parade, featuring 4,000 members of the armed forces, 250 horses and 19 military bands.

The pomp and pageantry concluded with a royal salute and the customary balcony appearance by the King and family members.

The newly crowned sovereign waved to crowds from Buckingham Palace.