The Coronation of His Majesty The King
Published 11 October 2022
Buckingham Palace is pleased to announce that the Coronation of His Majesty The King will take place on Saturday 6 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.
Further details will be announced in due course.
Comment
For the past 900 years, the Coronation Ceremony has taken place in Westminster Abbey, and since 1066 the Service has almost always been conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The Ceremony has retained a similar structure for over 1000 years and next year‘s Coronation is expected to include the same core elements whilst recognizing the spirit of our times.
It is expected that the King will sign a Proclamation formally declaring the date of the Coronation at a meeting of the Privy Council later this year. During the Ceremony, the Sovereign is “anointed, blessed and consecrated” by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The Queen Consort is also crowned during the ceremony.
On 11 October 2022, the House of Commons Library issued the Research Briefing The Coronation: history and ceremonial.
Royal “experts” have a field day suggesting Coronation might be “pared down” to one hour seemingly unaware that the ceremony is actually inserted into a solemn form of the Anglican communion rite which itself lasts an hour. Morever, unlike in 1953 two individuals have to be crowned.
We were not drawn into speculation on the timing, the relevant parts of the briefing are the inclusion of the same core elements of the Coronation, including the “anointing, blessing and consecration” by the ABC. Whilst it is possible to conclude a said Mass in 15 minutes, a state Coronation at one hour seems a little ambitious
interesting that the British monarch takes the diaconal rôle in the communion rite – at the Offertory – similar to the Tsar in the Russian coronation when for the one and only time he went through the door.