SW News: More than 2000 celebrity guests, including Cardinal Vincent Nichols of Westminster and 90 heads of state took part in the solemn coronation ceremony of King Charles III and his Queen Consort Camilla of Great Britain and 14 other Commonwealth Realms on Saturday, May 6. The ceremony, which followed centuries-old rituals and prayers, took place in Westminster Abbey in London where British monarchs are traditionally crowned.
The ceremony was led by Canterbury Archbishop Justin Welby with the assistance of the Archbishop of York, the Most Rev. Stephen Cottrell. Catholic prelates from Britain were present for the coronation along with the cardinal and leaders of other churches and faith communities. The ceremony had a traditional Catholic flavor as it predates the English Reformation period. It started with a procession with the processional cross which contained two fragments of the True Cross gifted to the ruler by Pope Francis himself. King Charles placed his hands on the Bible and read out oaths and prayers. In his first prayer, the new king said, “I come not be served, but to serve.”
Archbishop Welby began his homily by saying, “We are here to crown a king, and we crown a king to serve.” Later, Charles III was proclaimed as the “undoubted king” during the initial part of the ceremony. The congregation shouted “God Save the King” to show their allegiance to the new monarch. The ancient Catholic vestiges in the ritual came alive with the chanting of the "Gloria in Excelsis Deo" (Glory to God in the Highest) and the "Veni Creator" (Come Holy Spirit) in Latin by the choir. The ceremony was marked by all pomp and pageantry adhering to ancient royal protocols.
Before the coronation, the culmination of the ceremony, the king was surrounded by anointing screens before he was anointed with the sacred oil procured from two olive groves on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem and it was consecrated in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher by the Greek Metropolitan and the Anglican Archbishop. He was then made to sit on the coronation throne made of wood in the 1300s after which he was presented with the gold orb and two scepters. Then the traditional crown of solid gold sporting an array of gemstones was placed on his head.
Among the heads of state were Canadian President Justin Trudeau, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and leaders of all the Commonwealth countries. US First Lady Jill Biden and her granddaughter Finnegan were present at the ceremony. The other American celebrities included actress Emma Thompson and Singer Katy Perry. President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine was represented by his wife and the nation’s first lady Olena Zelenska.
Thousands lined the streets of London braving the rain to have a glimpse of the newly crowned monarch and his queen consort as they traveled to Buckingham Palace in a gilded horse-drawn coach with the accompaniment of cavalrymen and women in their ceremonial attire.