Charles III’s coronation seeks to assert monarchy’s central role in 21st-century UK

At 10:20 a.m. local time on Saturday, King Charles III and Camilla, the queen consort, will leave Buckingham Palace in the Diamond Jubilee State Coach. Made in Australia in 2012, the carriage boasts air conditioning, hydraulic suspension and a reinforced aluminum chassis. As ever, it will be pulled by six Windsor Grey horses, bred in the royal stables and chosen for their particular beauty and poise. Tradition and modernity combined.

Once at Westminster Abbey, the United Kingdom’s new king will swear to rule according to law and to defend the Protestant faith of the Church of England, of which he is supreme governor. However, half of the 2,000 guests inside the abbey – doctors, nurses, social workers and community volunteers – will represent a more diverse British society whose members encompass other religions, or aren’t religious at all. Charles will shun the stockings and breeches worn by his grandfather, George VI, instead donning military uniform. He won’t, though, do without the velvet and ermine cape worn in 1953 by his mother, Elizabeth II, and by Charles himself during his investiture as the prince of Wales in 1969.

And, as in the coronation of his mother, who allowed the ceremony to be televised for the first time, cameras will be prevented from capturing the moment when the archbishop of Canterbury anoints the king, now seated on the Coronation Chair, with sacred oil. On this occasion, olive oil will be used, rather than whale oil: a show of environmental awareness from the king, who is intent on striking a balance between present-day values and established rites. He also understands as well as anyone that the British monarchy’s mystical pull is key to its survival.

“The oil to be used for the coronation has been consecrated in Jerusalem, at a special ceremony in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre,” George Gross, a research fellow in theology at King’s College London, has explained. “It has been created from the olive groves of the Mount of Olives […]. The choice of anointing oil from Jerusalem is also a pointer to the Abrahamic religions, with Jerusalem being a city of great importance and significance for Christians, Jews and Muslims alike.”

Although the ceremony has no explicit constitutional significance – Charles III has been king since the death of Elizabeth II – no monarch has truly ascended to the throne in the eyes of the British public until the moment of their coronation. Edward VIII, who reigned for just 325 days before abdicating for love, never had the Imperial State Crown placed on his head. “One of the few things he did right – at least he made the decision before being crowned,” was the characteristically sarcastic assessment of Elizabeth the Queen Mother, the wife of George VI and grandmother of the current monarch.

On the streets of London, there will be protests against the monarchy. Twice now, Charles III has narrowly missed being hit by an egg during a public event. Placards reading “not my king” will chiefly serve to highlight the minority status of republicanism in the United Kingdom, rather than underlining another reality: according to a YouGov poll, 71% of Brits are completely indifferent to this weekend’s celebrations, and have no interest in taking part.

The guests at the royal event of the century

When Elizabeth II was crowned, Winston Churchill was the prime minister of the United Kingdom and was among the most reluctant to allow TV cameras into Westminster Abbey. Churchill had won a war and lost an empire. India’s independence still rankled with him. On Saturday, a prime minister of Indian origin who is a practicing Hindu, Rishi Sunak, a man completely comfortable in front of the lens, will read a passage from the New Testament’s Epistle to the Colossians.

Other representatives of Sunak’s government will also be at the ceremony, as will each of the living former prime ministers: John Major, Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss. However, while the more than 8,000 guests invited in 1953 included a healthy contingent of MPs and Lords, on this occasion there will only be 40 of each – much to the irritation of many in both houses of parliament.

A further contrast to Elizabeth II’s coronation – which at the time was a form of communion between the British people and their queen, without outside influences – is that almost 100 heads of state will be in London on Saturday. The king and queen of Spain, Felipe VI and Letizia, will be in attendance, along with other global royalty: this will include the prince and princess of Monaco, Albert and Charlene; Japanese Crown Prince Akishino and his wife Kiko, the crown princess; and King Carl Gustaf of Sweden, accompanied by his daughter, Crown Princess Victoria.

The president of France, Emmanuel Macron, has confirmed that he will be present, as has the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. U.S. President Joe Biden won’t be there; the first lady, Jill Biden, will attend on his behalf.

Harry in attendance, Meghan absent

Given that the British royal family’s quarrels and reconciliations are prime fodder for the country’s tabloid newspapers – and the worldwide media – Saturday’s ceremony promises to see the press pack fill its boots. Charles’ Achilles heel, his son Prince Harry, has in the end confirmed his attendance. He will be inside Westminster Abbey, but he won’t be in the front row; his role in the event will be reduced to that of any other guest. His wife, Meghan Markle, has opted to remain in the U.S. with the couple’s two children. Their son, Archie, turns four on the day of the coronation.

Harry’s brother, on the other hand – Prince William, the current prince of Wales and the heir to the throne – will kneel before his father to swear loyalty to him until his death, just as Prince Philip did during Elizabeth II’s coronation.

A privileged position will be given to the two siblings of the king who have a major role in many public events: Princess Anne and the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Edward, will be in the front row. Prince Andrew, who has been ostracized over his murky relationship with the billionaire American pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, will be placed out of sight. His former wife, Sarah Ferguson, hasn’t been invited.

The crowning of Queen Camilla

For some months now, since the end of the mourning period after Elizabeth II’s death, Buckingham Palace has done without the word “consort” when referring to Queen Camilla. For the media, and many citizens, it is still hard not to use the adjective. The coronation will likely serve to make it all feel a little bit more normal. For decades the most hated woman in the United Kingdom, Camilla Parker-Bowles will also be anointed with sacred oil and enthroned in a ceremony that will be simpler than her husband’s, but no less significant. On her head will rest the Crown of the Queen Mother, which was made for Queen Mary, the wife of George V. It weighs 600 grams, is fitted with a purple velvet cap and bears 2,200 diamonds.

King Charles and Queen Camilla will return to Buckingham Palace in the Gold State Coach, whose exterior design includes painted panels, cherubs and tritons. The king will wear the Imperial State Crown, which weighs a kilogram and features 2,868 diamonds. “Heavy is the head that wears the crown,” said William Shakespeare’s Henry IV. For King Charles, what weighed heavily were the long decades waiting to become king. It may be that nobody enjoys Saturday’s ceremony more than he.

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