King Charles’ coronation alongside Camilla as Queen Consort is set to take place on Saturday May 6, 2023.
Gatekeepers News reports Buckingham Palace announced that the ceremony will take place in Westminster Abbey, eight months after the monarch’s accession and the death of the Queen.
The Palace said the ceremony will be “rooted in long standing traditions and pageantry” but also “reflect the monarch’s role today and look towards the future”.
Charles III will be anointed with holy oil, receive the orb, Coronation Ring and Sceptre, be crowned with the Majestic St Edward’s Crown and blessed during the historic ceremony.
Camilla will also be anointed with holy oil and crowned, just like the Queen Mother was when she was crowned Queen in 1937.
The Palace said: “Buckingham Palace is pleased to announce that the coronation of His Majesty The King will take place on Saturday 6th May 2023.
“The coronation ceremony will take place at Westminster Abbey, London, and will be conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury.
“The ceremony will see His Majesty King Charles III crowned alongside the Queen Consort.
“The coronation will reflect the monarch’s role today and look towards the future, while being rooted in longstanding traditions and pageantry.”
Guest lists for the occasion have not yet been confirmed including whether Harry and Meghan will be invited or be able to travel from California to attend or not.
Guest numbers will be reduced from 8,000 to around 2,000, with peers expected to wear suits and dresses instead of ceremonial robes, and a number of rituals, such as the presentation of gold ingots, axed.
The late Queen and Camilla in 2014 / PA Wire
Royal aides insisted, when she married Charles, that Camilla did not want to be queen and said originally that she “intended” to be known instead as Princess Consort – the first in British history – when Charles acceded to the throne.
The wife of a king automatically becomes a Queen and only a change in legislation would prevent her from doing so, but there had been much controversy over whether Camilla would use the title, being Charles’s former mistress who became his spouse.
The royal website used to declare: “A Queen Consort is crowned with the King, in a similar but simpler ceremony.”
But, following Charles’s marriage to Camilla, it added the get-out clause “unless decided otherwise”.
May 6 is also the birthday of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s son Archie – Charles’s grandson – who will be turning four on the day.
Charles’s coronation is expected to be on a smaller scale and shorter, with suggestions that it could last just one hour rather than over three.
It is expected to be more inclusive of multi-faith Britain than past coronations but will be an Anglican service.
Coronations have not traditionally been held on a weekend, with the late Queen’s taking place on a Tuesday.
It has not yet been confirmed whether there will be any arrangements for a bank holiday.
