Pinned
Mark Landler
Here is what to know about King Charles III’s coronation.
LONDON — Britain’s Charles III was crowned king on Saturday, during an eighth-century ritual in a 21st-century metropolis with a handful of concessions to the modern age but the unabashed pageantry of a fairy tale, unseen since the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, his mother, in 1953.
“I come not to be served, but to serve,” Charles said in his first remarks of the ceremony, setting the theme for the intimate yet grand proceedings. The king, 74, was anointed with holy oil, symbolizing the sacred nature of his rule. He was vested with an imperial mantle, and the archbishop of Canterbury placed the ancient crown of St. Edward onto his head.
Tens of thousands of people crowded into central London, despite rain, for a glimpse of the king and queen, who traveled from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey in the Diamond Jubilee State Coach, escorted by four divisions of the Household Mounted Cavalry regiment.
A smattering of anti-monarchy protests also marked the day. London’s Metropolitan Police said they arrested 52 people on Saturday, most for offenses that appeared connected to the coronation of Charles III, including affray, public order offenses, breach of the peace and conspiracy to cause a public nuisance. Protesters and rights groups denounced the arrests.
Here is what to know about the coronation events:
Even in a country accustomed to royal spectacle, the procession after the coronation on Saturday beggared description: 19 military bands and 4,000 troops, stretching a mile from the palace gates. The king and his family appeared on the balcony as aircraft — fighter jets and helicopters — roared overhead in a display that is, by custom, the grand finale of a royal celebration.
During the service, Charles swore to uphold the Church of England, although the archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev. Justin Welby, encouraged the king to “foster an environment in which people of all faiths and beliefs can live freely.” It was one of several modifications to the liturgy, as the church and Buckingham Palace sought to adapt a 1,000-year-old service to today’s pluralistic world.
The approximately 2,300 people attending the ceremony included new faces, old lineages, world leaders, pop music icons and others — a coterie that spoke to Charles’s efforts to embrace a modern, multicultural Britain, but also to the monarchy’s dynastic identity.
After years of family tensions, Prince Harry attended his father’s coronation alone. Harry’s wife, Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, stayed at home in California with the couple’s children, Prince Archie, who turns 4 on Saturday, and 1-year-old Princess Lilibet.
The New York Times invites readers to share their thoughts and observations on the coronation events. Submit your comments and read others’ here.
May 6, 2023, 3:21 p.m. ET
The New York Times
In photos: The coronation of King Charles III.
Pageantry was on full display on Saturday in London as King Charles III and his queen, Camilla, were crowned.
The coronation procession through London and the ceremony at Westminster Abbey are the centerpiece of a three-day holiday weekend in Britain. Here’s a selection of the best photographs from the events.
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May 6, 2023, 3:06 p.m. ET
Stephen Castle
King Charles III’s coronation featured new roles for women.
England has crowned several female monarchs in recent centuries. But until this coronation, a woman had never carried the 17th-century Sword of State into Westminster Abbey as part of the procession.
Throughout parts of the two-hour-long service, Penny Mordaunt, leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Privy Council, bore the eight-pound sword, measuring four feet, and held it aloft.
Though King Charles III’s coronation was based around many ancient rituals, there were a few 21st-century aspects, and Saturday’s ceremony included some new and important roles for women.
Most prominent perhaps was Ms. Mordaunt, who ran unsuccessfully to be prime minister last year. She emerged as what the British newspaper, The Daily Telegraph, described as “the quiet star of the Coronation ceremony — one that nobody saw coming.”
A former naval reservist, Ms. Mordaunt even impressed some in the opposition Labour Party in her handling of the sword, which is a symbol of regal authority.
“Got to say it, @PennyMordaunt looks damn fine! The sword bearer steals the show,” wrote Emily Thornberry, the shadow attorney general, in a post on Twitter.
Carrying the sword may not have been as easy as she made it look. Ms. Mordaunt told Times Radio that, in preparation for her ceremonial task, she had been doing push-ups (known as press-ups in Britain).
There were several other firsts for women.
Senior ordained women also made history by playing roles in the ceremony for the first time. They included the Bishop of Chelmsford, the Rt. Rev. Dr. Guli Francis-Dehqani, and the Bishop of Dover, the Rt. Rev. Rose Hudson-Wilkin. The ordination of women to the priesthood in the Church of England began in 1994, and the introduction of female bishops came in 2014.
Eileen Hogan was commissioned to paint the coronation service itself from within Westminster Abbey, making her the first woman appointed in that role. Ms. Hogan, who is emeritus professor at the University of the Arts London and a trustee of the Royal Drawing School, is expected to produce a series of 10 small paintings, some of which may later be worked up into larger ones.
“I want to capture how in 2023 the ceremony reflects social and political meanings concerning the monarchy, faiths, the state, and the congregation, all contained in the architecture of Westminster Abbey, itself embodying centuries of change,” Ms. Hogan said.
And Princess Anne, the king’s sister, who is formally known as the Princess Royal, reinforced her growing popularity based on a reputation for being the hardest-working royal and undertaking the most public engagements.
She took a prominent role and was riding horseback in the military procession from the coronation to Buckingham Palace.
At times some of the horses broke their stride, apparently upset by the noise from the cheering crowd. But Anne, an equestrian competitor in the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games, appeared to have hers well under control.
May 6, 2023, 3:01 p.m. ET
Derrick Bryson Taylor
Reporting from London
Some people around London did not have the chance to watch much of the coronation, but it is certainly a hot topic. In the Camden Town area of the city, Tom McCall, 24, said the monarchy didn’t really affect his life.
May 6, 2023, 3:01 p.m. ET
Derrick Bryson Taylor
Reporting from London
“It’s hard to think any which way about them,” he said. “I don’t really hate them. I don’t really like them particularly much. I’m kind of on the fence with them.”
May 6, 2023, 2:39 p.m. ET
Sarah Lyall
Camilla is queen. Diana, who aspired to be ‘Queen of Hearts,’ still reigns.
Back in 1981, when then-Prince Charles married Lady Diana Spencer in a fairy-tale ceremony filled with pomp and excitement, the future seemed clear: One day Britain would be ruled not just by King Charles, but by Queen Diana, whose youth, style and common touch would bring a new lightness and modernity to this most ancient of institutions.
The marriage, of course, dissolved after a prolonged period of unhappiness, infidelity and public airing of grievances on both sides. The couple divorced in 1996; Diana died, shockingly, in a car accident in Paris just a year later.
And now here is Queen Camilla, where Diana would once have been. Unlike Diana, she is un-showy, undemonstrative, deeply loyal to Charles, and willing to sublimate herself to the greater undertaking here — the preservation of the monarchy.
It’s worth noting that Diana, toward the end of her life, said that she doubted that she would ever become queen, but preferred to be “Queen of Hearts.”
Richard Kay, columnist for The Daily Mail and a confidant of Diana, said she occasionally discussed her mixed feelings with him.
“On the few occasions Diana did talk about being Queen, it was either accompanied by gales of laughter at such a preposterous idea or a wistfulness at the prospect of what might have been: not least wearing what she called ‘all those Cinderella dresses,’” he wrote recently.
“I asked her once if she dreamt about being crowned,” he wrote.
“‘No,’ she told me, ‘but I have had nightmares about it.’ These bad dreams had a recurring image: it was the pivotal moment in the Coronation and the crown was being lowered onto her head. Instead of remaining there, it would slip down her face and come to a halt over her neck, before slowly tightening around her throat and choking her.’”
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May 6, 2023, 2:30 p.m. ET
Saskia Solomon
Reporting from London
Religious groups made an appearance at Hyde Park in London to hand out fake £1 million “Bank of Eternity“ notes bearing the king’s image, while independent evangelists held up placards.“We wanted to remind people of the king’s faith,” said Fayez Islam, a delivery driver who also does ministry work. “This is a big event, and we wanted to spread the word.“
May 6, 2023, 2:25 p.m. ET
Isabella Kwai
In Wales, some celebrated their former prince. Others disavowed him.
CARDIFF, Wales — The coronation of King Charles III, broadcast live at Cardiff Castle, was met by one small crowd with applause and the waving of the British Union Jack flag. But for another crowd, it was met with the waving of the Welsh flag instead, and angry chants disavowing Charles as monarch.
Both groups had turned up on this damp Saturday to show their feelings about the monarchy, a display of the national divisions in Britain on the enduring institution, which fall along generational and political lines. Wales, which was conquered by England in the 13th century and has battled to preserve a language and cultural identity distinct from Britain, has an especially complicated relationship with the monarchy.
The monarchy is less popular in Wales than in England, according to a poll conducted in April, and Welsh republicans continue to view the royal family as a symbol of the nation’s history of oppression. But more Welsh people still support a monarchy than not, according to the poll, with 43 percent of those surveyed believing that the monarchy is good for Britain, compared to 24 percent against.
Paul Batters, 39, grew up as the son of a Welsh mother who disliked the monarchy and an English father who supported the institution. But Mr. Batters said that he was a fan of the royal family and looked forward to pledging his allegiance to Britain’s new king.
“I don’t see myself as Welsh or English, but British,” he said, adding that, as a nature lover, he admired King Charles III’s stance on protecting the environment, and that he believed the king’s actions would speak for themselves. “I feel very patriotic,” he said.
Bestowed the title of Prince of Wales by Queen Elizabeth II in 1969, the new monarch is no stranger to Welsh divisions. Welsh nationalists protested his investiture, but over the decades, he has spoken of his affection for Wales, become a patron of local arts groups and delivered speeches in the Welsh language.
Saturday’s ceremony at Westminster Abbey featured a “Kyrie” sung in Welsh, marking the first time that language was featured at a coronation. It was sung by the choir and Bryn Terfel, one of the most prominent opera singers ever to come out of Wales.
In Cardiff, the Welsh capital, other supporters of the monarchy, many with connections to Britain’s armed forces, pointed to the monarchy’s place in British history and said it could be a unifier.
“To me, they give more than they take,” said Mary Carroll, 53, who embraced the day’s spirit with blue eyeliner and an inflatable crown. Despite a grim weather forecast, Ms. Carroll said, it was important for her to show up to be a part of the festivities.
But for some, the coronation of one of the wealthiest men in Britain while inflation is battering one of its most deprived areas was a grotesque display of inequality.
“It’s only an accident of birth that he is born king, and I’m born a commoner — when we should all be commoners,” said Anthony Evans, 74, an artist who protested Charles’s investiture in 1969. “The obscene wealth these people have creates an imbalance in society. It’s not right.”
“It’s almost spitting in our faces,” said Shaun David, 30, who was holding a banner supporting Welsh independence. He added that the idea that Welsh people would support such an expensive event at a time when so many were experiencing financial struggles was absurd. “It’s so thoroughly undemocratic.”
Many campaigners said there was a growing awareness of Welsh history and language after a sense of being marginalized by the rest of the union, particularly among a younger generation.
“The monarchy is just one more symbol of our alienation and this old rule of power and privilege over us,” said Adam Johannes, an organizer of the anti-monarchy gathering, adding that many Welsh people viewed Britain as a dysfunctional system. “People want to get off the sinking ship.”
May 6, 2023, 2:13 p.m. ET
Megan Specia
Reporting from London
A ‘Big Gay Diana Party’ and protests: Britons seek alternative events to coronation.
Not everyone in Britain has been excited about the coronation. From staunch anti-monarchists to those who feel that the royal family is out of touch with modern Britain, people across the country and beyond have come up with creative ways to commemorate the occasion.
Protests and parties — including a “Big Gay Diana Party” — provided ways for people to acknowledge, or in many cases ignore, the centuries-old pomp and pageantry as King Charles III was crowned.
The activities planned over the weekend ranged from overtly political — such as the anti-monarchy demonstrations disrupted by arrests in central London — to street parties with an alternative spin.
The Newington Green Meeting House in north London, an old hotbeds of political radicalism, hosted an event welcoming republicans, monarchists and people who have no view on the subject.
“Raise a toast to the community, solidarity and radical spirit,” the meeting house website reads.
In the English city of Sheffield, the Dog and Partridge pub, whose owners have objected to the cost of the coronation, is hosting an “anti-coronation safe space,” with staff members collecting donations for a food bank and a national charity that supports homeless people.
“We have very strong feelings regarding the coronation,” a post on the pub’s social media accounts noted. “So, we’ve decided to have a get-together for all those that aren’t interested in the whole palaver! There’ll be songs played, special drinks available, and no flag-waving!”
In Bristol, a city in the southwest of England, one independent cinema and community space called the Cube is hosting an anti-coronation street party and discussion titled “What Are We Celebrating?” Participants in the conversation about challenging the legacy of the British Empire and questioning the institution of the monarchy planned to call in by video from New Zealand and Australia, where King Charles III is head of state, to talk about the experience of Indigenous communities there.
And later in the evening, attendees were invited to dance the night away at the Bristol venue’s “Big Gay Diana Party,” described as “an event for the more outgoing critics of the monarchy” that promises to be an “evening of drag, film and dancing.”
Rosa Eaton, one of the volunteers organizing the “Big Gay Diana Party" said that the community space “embodies” a “‘no gods no masters’ energy” so it seemed like a natural place for an event such as this. There will be pageantry and pomp and drag performances, she said.
“Diana is essentially the only royal who has been a real friend to queer people, shaking hands with an H.I.V. patient in the 1980s and that being publicized was a big deal,” she said. “And there’s obviously something about thumbing your nose at the king by celebrating his ex-wife.”
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May 6, 2023, 1:35 p.m. ET
Sarah Lyall
Even with a heavy crown, Camilla seems lighter in her new role.
First she was the royal mistress, reviled by much of Britain for her role as spoiler in the doomed marriage of Charles and his first wife, the late Diana, Princess of Wales. (“There were three of us in this marriage,” Diana declared in 1995, “so it was a bit crowded.”)
Then she was a royal bride, finally married to Charles in a pared-down (at least as far as royal ceremonies go) wedding, in 2005. As a culmination of a decades-long relationship between two middle-aged people who genuinely loved each other despite many obstacles (such as other spouses), their marriage represented the triumph of experience over hope.
And now she is Queen Camilla, her previous title of Queen Consort having apparently been jettisoned nearly overnight. Today’s coronation represents not just the moment that Charles has finally ascended to the role he has been waiting for his whole life, but also the final act in the long rehabilitation of the former Camilla Parker Bowles.
It was interesting to see her body language during the long coronation ceremony. While Charles seemed weighed down by responsibility (and, it must be said, by the heaviness of the crown and the robes and all the things he had to carry), Camilla seemed to get lighter, even buoyant as she herself was crowned, anointed (but in view of the public, not behind a screen like her husband) and given a ring.
She looked at ease and happy on her throne, happy to bask in her husband’s reflected glory. As the two stood on a Buckingham Palace balcony during the traditional and highly symbolic greeting of the public after the coronation ceremony, Charles seemed to visibly relax, actually making small talk with his wife as the family gathered around him.
Alert viewers will have noticed that two ladies, both wearing long white gowns, were near Queen Camilla for most of the coronation ceremony, like bridesmaids at a wedding, and then again on the balcony, corralling several children into place. They were her sister, Annabel Elliot, and a longtime friend, Lady Landsdowne. In a nod to the “slimmed-down” nature of this coronation, they’re not called ladies-in-waiting, but ladies in attendance — another example of how this ceremony has been updated, but only sort of.
May 6, 2023, 1:26 p.m. ET
Derrick Bryson Taylor
Reporting from London
Nicholas Sowemimo, 36, spent part of his Saturday afternoon at The Hawley Arms, a well-known pub in North London, but he did not watch the coronation. “I’m not particularly bothered,” he said. “I’m not out here raging, angry about it, protesting. But I’m not the biggest fan.”
May 6, 2023, 1:26 p.m. ET
Derrick Bryson Taylor
Reporting from London
He said that Britain’s royal family was an “archaic institution” in its current form, pointing to other royal families across Europe that are scaled down and less formal.
May 6, 2023, 1:23 p.m. ET
Emma Bubola and Megan Specia
The London police, with new powers against ‘serious disruption,’ arrest dozens of protesters.
London’s Metropolitan Police said they arrested 52 people on Saturday, most for offenses that appeared connected to the coronation of Charles III, including public order offenses, breach of the peace and conspiracy to cause a public nuisance. In the afternoon, the police said that all those arrested remained in custody.
In advance of the coronation, the police had said that there would be little tolerance for disruptive protests and that they welcomed new legislation that came into force this week giving them more power to crack down on protests that cause “serious disruption.”
On Saturday, some protesters said that the arrests represented a breach of public freedoms.
“If that’s not infringing on protest rights then I don’t know what is,” said one protester reached by phone, Imogen McBeath.
Some protesters, organized by Republic, the leading anti-monarchy group in Britain, had arrived early on Saturday in Trafalgar Square and on the Mall in London to publicly voice objections to the coronation, an event they saw as an invaluable opportunity to highlight what they see as the absurdity of having a royal family in modern Britain.
Republic said that among those arrested were its leader, Graham Smith, and other members of its core team. The group maintained that it had communicated with the police ahead of the protest and that the arrests came as a surprise.
Hundreds of yellow banners reading, “Not my king,” were also seized at Trafalgar Square, Republic said.
At the square, Liorah Tchiprout, 30, who wore a T-shirt with an embroidered portrait of Charles labeled “first class parasite,” said that the arrests could diminish the number of people having the courage to demonstrate, at a time when there was a lot to protest about.
“Our rights to protest are being eroded,” she said. “That might scare people.”
Elsewhere in Britain, fellow anti-monarchy protesters called the arrests in London heavy-handed. “We disagreed with that,” said Emyr Gruffydd, who was at an anti-monarchy rally in Cardiff, Wales. “It’s healthy in a democracy to be able to express yourself.”
Yasmine Ahmed, the director of Human Rights Watch in Britain, condemned the arrests. “People are being arrested on the streets of London for peacefully protesting against the monarchy,” she wrote on Twitter, adding, “These are scenes you’d expect to see in Russia not the UK. It’s disgraceful not dazzling!”
Despite the arrests, demonstrators at Trafalgar Square walked toward Hyde Park, holding signs that read, “Monarchy is moronic,” or “He is just some guy,” or “What if it was Andy,” in a reference to Charles’ disgraced brother, Prince Andrew.
They chanted “done with the monarchy” and “not my king,” but also “spend on health and education not on Charlie’s coronation.” They showed their middle finger to the jets during the flyover.
Actor Romy Elliot, 23, held a sign that read, “France gets more tourists,” a reference to a pro-monarchy argument that the British royal family helps Britain’s finances by being a tourist attraction.
The existence of the monarchy “just sends a message that if you are born lucky you get to a position of power,” she said. “It’s a dangerous message.”
Isabella Kwai contributed reporting from Wales.
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May 6, 2023, 1:17 p.m. ET
Megan Specia
Reporting from London
A total of 52 arrests were made in London today, according to the city’s Metropolitan Police Service, which headed up the security operation in the capital, one of its largest ever. Those arrested were detained for “affray, public order offenses, breach of the peace and conspiracy to cause a public nuisance. All of these people remain in custody,” the police said in a statement. Affray is essentially creating the perception of a threat to another's safety.
May 6, 2023, 1:07 p.m. ET
Emiliano Rodríguez Mega
Charles is Jamaica’s head of state. The island nation may break with the monarchy next year.
As King Charles III put on the centuries-old St. Edward’s crown on Saturday, Jamaica, a Commonwealth member, continued to move ahead with plans to cut ties with the British monarchy — a decision scheduled for a referendum in 2024.
“Time has come. Jamaica in Jamaican hands,” Marlene Malahoo Forte, Jamaica’s minister for legal and constitutional affairs, said in an interview with Sky News this week. “Time to say goodbye.”
She is part of a 15-member committee of officials and experts that is laying the groundwork to modify Jamaica’s Constitution and remove the British monarch as the Caribbean island’s head of state.
Jamaica was also represented in a letter to King Charles this week in which campaigners from 12 Commonwealth nations urged him to use his coronation to apologize for the “horrific impacts” of Britain’s imperial past, including “racism, oppression, colonialism and slavery.” The letter called for reparations and the return of all stolen cultural artifacts.
“The British have a great opportunity” to address colonial injustices, said Rosalea Hamilton, co-signer of the letter and founding director of the Institute of Law and Economics, a nonprofit in Kingston, the Jamaican capital. “Having led the world with this inhumanity for centuries, they can lead the world in repairing the damage.”
Although its practical role in the island’s affairs might be minute, the monarchy has left an uncomfortable legacy. All of the queen’s, and now the king’s, functions are performed by a governor general acting as their direct representative — assenting to all legislation and determining who becomes Prime Minister.
“Some people would tell you it’s largely ceremonial, but I think that’s the wrong way of thinking about it,” said Tracy Robinson, a constitutional law professor at the University of the West Indies. “It reflects the old prerogative power of the crown.”
On the British government’s part, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has declined to apologize for the country’s role in the trans-Atlantic slave trade or to engage in discussions about paying reparations. “Trying to unpick our history is not the right way forward,” he told lawmakers in Britain’s Parliament in April, “and it’s not something that we will focus our energies on.”
Still, the constitutional reform process is prompting more people in Jamaica to think even beyond ditching the British monarch.
“When we say we wish to get rid of the monarchy, that tells you only the starting point,” Ms. Robinson said during a public panel this week. “It does not tell you the destination or where we’ll end up.”
Among the questions that loom: If Charles III is out as Jamaica’s head of state, what kind of political system would ensue?
“We’ve never quite asked and answered those questions before,” said Ms. Hamilton, who co-chairs the Advocates Network, an organization that has urged a national discussion around transitioning to a republic. “Can we, for the first time in our history, really conceive of reshaping the society in the interests of the majority?”
Clear answers are elusive. So far, the government’s committee — which has said that a draft bill will be presented to Parliament this month — has mostly met in private.
If the legislation is not drafted with significant public participation, said Maziki Thame, a researcher at the University of the West Indies, the decision-making could end up in the hands of a few. That would fall short of what many Jamaicans expect.
“Don’t get me wrong — I think it’s very important that you have our people in power,” she said. “At the same time, I want it to have substance as representative of a democratic move.”
May 6, 2023, 12:38 p.m. ET
Neelam Bohra,Eric Adelson and Margarita Birnbaum
Some Americans woke up before dawn (or stayed up) to watch.
Right at 4:30 a.m., Patrick Lynch strolled into Brit’s Pub in Minneapolis along with a growing crowd. He was 10 minutes early, having stayed up all night watching Sky News livestreams of the preparations for King Charles III’s Coronation.
“I haven’t slept,” Mr. Lynch, 40, said. “I didn’t want to sleep through it.”
Despite the early hour,pockets of Americans gathered at dozens of pubs, house parties and at least one parking lot across the country to watch a stream of the Coronation.
They dined on scones and Scotch eggs; wore gloves and the small headpieces called fascinators; and sipped tea or drinks like Buck’s Fizz (essentially, a mimosa).
Many watchers were diehard Anglophiles. Some had ties to Britain. And some, like Jacob Flores, a Navy reservist who was the first among a dozen or so people who gathered before dawn at The Pub in Orlando, Fla., were simply drawn to it as a curiosity.
“My Revolutionary ancestors would be rolling around in their graves,” Mr. Flores said, “but eh, why not?”
More U.S. events planned throughout the day, including garden parties and high teas where the broadcast would be replayed, sold out in cities like Washington, D.C. In some of the morning events, however, the turnouts did not seem as high as for gatherings surrounding the wedding of Harry and Meghan in 2018.
Still, to some who watched, viewing the spectacle was an emotional experience, particularly for those with British roots. At The Pub, Layfon Rosu, in a purple fascinator and a white dress with black polka dots, described it as “almost spiritual.”
When Charles was crowned, at 7:02 a.m. Eastern time, Carol Melville, 49, who is from Scotland and was visiting Orlando, dabbed her eyes with a white napkin.
“I wasn’t expecting that to happen,” she said of her tears, adding, “It’s a bit overwhelming.”
Julie Burge Lindsey, 70, whose family had immigrated from England, watched the streaming broadcast in Montgomery, Ala., before attending a morning tea. She said Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation took place when she was a baby, making this feel like a “once-in-a-lifetime event.”
Paul Hackney, 75, who was born in Doncaster, England, also cited Elizabeth as part of the reason he watched. He was one of more than 50 people who gathered at 3:30 a.m. in a parking lot of the British Emporium grocery store in the Dallas suburb of Grapevine, Texas.
In his pocket, Mr. Hackney, a retired truck mechanic who has lived in Texas for about 30 years, carried a New Testament that was given to him when he was a schoolboy on the occasion of her coronation in June 1953.
“She’s always been my queen,” he said, adding that she represented “the good in people.”
More than half of Americans say they do not care about the Coronation “very much” or “at all,” according to a recent study from YouGov, a London-based analytics and research group.
Conrad Melville, Ms. Melville’s 10-year-old son, might agree with them. “I don’t mind watching it,” he said. “I don’t really think anything of it.”
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May 6, 2023, 12:00 p.m. ET
The New York Times
The Stone of Destiny, the Regalia and the Supertunica: A glossary of coronation terms.
King Charles III’s coronation ceremony on Saturday was filled with ancient traditions and storied paraphernalia, complete with elaborate and mysterious names.
Here are just a few of the stars of the show:
The Stone of Destiny: Also known as the Stone of Scone, it may sound like a magical Harry Potter-esque object, but it is in fact the rock upon which Scottish kings were crowned until the 13th century when King Edward I of England stole it. In 1996, England gave it back to Scotland, which kindly lent it out for the coronation ceremony, where it was enclosed inside the 700-year-old Coronation Chair. According to The Guardian newspaper, Charles was the 27th monarch to sit on it.
The Regalia: We heard a lot about Regalia, which turns out to be a very specific category of object in the coronation ceremony. Regarded as the “heart of the Crown jewels” and usually kept in the Tower of London, the Regalia includes something called the “sovereign’s orb,” a hollow gold globe decorated with a huge cross; a couple of scepters; and several different crowns. The presentation of Regalia, including swords of state, temporal justice and mercy, were meant to signify the king’s role as a defender of the weak, not a warrior. In a break with tradition, non-Christian faith leaders presented some of the less overtly religious items of Regalia to Charles as part of an effort to reflect the diversity of modern Britain.
The Supertunica: For King Charles and Queen Camilla, the coronation involved multiple changes of wardrobe, starting with robes of state. The king’s robes, made of crimson velvet with gold lace, were worn by his grandfather George VI at his coronation in 1937. But for the crowning moment, the king wore the Supertunica, a long and glittering golden coat that his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, wore at her coronation in 1953. The coat is made of gold silk and reflects “the splendor of Christ,” according to the royal family’s website.
The Ampulla: The golden Ampulla and Coronation Spoon are “arguably the most important” items used in the coronation ceremony, because they are “required for the anointing, which is the most sacred part” of the service, according to Westminster Abbey. Shaped like an eagle, the Ampulla is a flask made for the coronation of King Charles II in 1661. It held the oil that was poured into the Coronation Spoon and used to anoint the new monarch.