London’s Westminster Abbey is witnessing another great royal event today, when the king Charles III will be crowned.
Coronations have been held at the same location for over 900 years, and Charles will be the 40th monarch to be crowned in Westminster Abbey.
closely follows the day’s events online and on television. The special live broadcast of the coronation starts at 11:45. The broadcast can also be viewed with sign language interpretation and Swedish commentary.
You can discuss the coronation in ‘s chat (you will switch to another service) from 11:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
According to the court, coronation ceremonies have remained practically the same for over a thousand years. This time (you switch to another service) however, reforms have also been made to the ceremonies.
In addition to the Anglican Church, other religions are also taken into account in the ceremony, female priests get a prominent role, and in addition to the elite gathered in the church, ordinary people at the screens are also urged to swear loyalty to the ruler and the heirs to the crown.
74-year-old Charles is making history at his coronation, as he is the oldest person to be crowned as a ruler in the history of the island kingdom.
A long time has passed since the previous coronation in London, because the king’s mother, the queen Elizabeth II managed to rule for more than 70 years.
Elizabeth’s coronation in June 1953 made television history and contributed to the breakthrough of new technology. The coronation was televised live around the world, something that had never been done on a similar scale before.
See how Elizabeth’s coronation was celebrated in 1953:
Bouncing golden carriages test the endurance of the glutes
The monarch’s journey from Buckingham Palace to the Coronation Church is an event that gathers a huge crowd of spectators. Charles makes the trip by horse-drawn carriage, but for his traveling comfort, the traditional coronation carriages are only used on the return journey.
Charles travels to the church in a diamond party carriage introduced in 2014, with air conditioning and modern suspension.
On the way back, golden carriages are used, which have been used at all coronations since the 1830s. These strollers are known to be very uncomfortable. The king who ruled in the 1830s William IV compared sitting in these carriages to sailing on a ship on a stormy sea.
Queen Elizabeth II, on the other hand, described the bouncing gold carriage ride on her coronation day as creepy and not particularly comfortable.
Charles’ glutes are also protected by the fact that he has to spend much less time in the pram than his mother did in 1953.
When the queen returned from her coronation 70 years ago, the carriage covered a route of more than seven kilometers. Now the route is just over two kilometers long.
There are also fewer people in the procession this time than before. As many as 16,000 people walked in Elizabeth’s procession. Now about 6,000 soldiers are involved.
Charles is anointed with rose-scented olive oil
Coronations include centuries-old traditions, such as the new ruler and his spouse Camilla’s anointing with holy oil. The oil is made from olives grown on the Mount of Olives in Israel. According to Christianity, the Mount of Olives is the place where Jesus’ ascension took place.
Charles’ grandmother, the princess Alice’s the grave is in the church on Olímäki.
The oil is consecrated in Jerusalem in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, i.e. the place where Jesus’ resurrection is believed to have taken place. The Patriarch of Jerusalem, representing the Orthodox, was responsible for the consecration at the beginning of March Teofilos III and the Archbishop of Jerusalem representing the Anglicans Hosam Naoum.
Scented with, among other things, sesame, roses, jasmine, cinnamon and orange blossoms, the oil is based on the oil used at the coronation of the late Queen Elizabeth 70 years ago. The formula for making the oil is Buckingham Palace (switch to another service) according to centuries old.
This time the oil does not contain any ingredients of animal origin.
The “stone of destiny” stolen from the Scots in ancient times as part of a ceremony
The coronation culminates in the moment when the crown is placed on Charles’ head as he sits on a flimsy oak coronation seat.
The more than 700-year-old seat has been occupied by, among others, the king before Charles Henry VIII and the queen Victoria.
Over the centuries, the seat has been damaged by, among other things, schoolboys and tourists who scratched their initials on it. The seat suffered the most damage in 1914, when perpetrators suspected of being women’s advocates, i.e. suffragettes, exploded a bomb.
The seat has been carefully restored before the coronation day.
– The coronation seat is very fragile. It is the oldest piece of furniture still in original use, a conservator Krista Blessley says the Reuters news agency.
The king who conquered Scotland in 1296 Edward I ordered the seat to be built as a place to store the old crown stone of the monarchs looted from Scotland.
This old Scottish coronation stone, also called the stone of destiny, was returned to Scotland in 1996. However, the stone has been brought back to London for the coronation of Charles.
The original coronation crown was destroyed in the civil war
At the coronation ceremony, Charles wears the St. Edward’s Crown, which is a new version of the previous crown made in 1661. The original St. Edward’s used to crown the ruler of a kingdom since the Middle Ages the crown was melted in the heat of the civil war in 1649 (you move to another service).
At the end of the coronation ceremony, Charles puts his grandfather the king on his head of George VI the Imperial State Crown made for the coronation in 1937.
Alongside Charles, his spouse Camilla will be crowned. Queen Camilla will be replaced by Charles’ great-grandmother’s queen Mary’s crown, which is exceptional, as usually a new crown is made for the spouse.
Use of the “recycling crown”. Hovi justifies (you switch to another service) with sustainable development and frugality. Mary’s crown has been slightly modified and diamonds worn by Queen Elizabeth have been attached to it as a tribute to her.
Charles already has previous coronation experience, as in 1969 he was crowned Prince of Wales with great festivities.
Watch how Charles was crowned Prince of Wales in 1969:
The next rulers are already waiting for their turn
Succession to the crown is already secured far into the future.
In the best places in the church, the coronation ceremony will be followed by the persons next in line for the coronation, i.e. Charles’ eldest son, the Prince of Wales William and her eldest child the prince George.
If something fatal were to happen to them, it is the duty of the next relative in line of succession to the crown to take their place.
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