Coronation Review: our Insider Guide

In our Coronation review of the spectacular day for the crowning of King Charles and Queen Camilla, we dissect the royal insides and outs and set it in the context of previous coronations over 1,000 years. 

As the 250-year-old Gold State Coach left Westminster Abbey after the Coronation, and proceeded past the statue of Charles I and past Banqueting House, the scene of his execution, it is quite possible that a thought flashed through the mind of the newly crowned King regarding his royal predecessor whose name he shares – not all goes to plan for some monarchs.

It did not end well for Charles I, who was at war with Parliament in the Civil War, driven by his belief that monarchs derived their authority from God and should rule without interference. The first Charles was the last monarch to wear the medieval Crown Jewels, which were melted down and sold off by Oliver Cromwell, apart from the 700-year old Anointing Spoon, which was used in the Coronation Ceremony on 6 May 2023 for King Charles III.

Coronation Review 

This Coronation went faultlessly and represents an auspicious start to the reign of King Charles III. From start to finish, it was a magnificent spectacle: the solemnity and power of the Coronation service itself; the two carriages sparkling in defiance of the leaden skies and drizzly rain; the thrilling sight of 4,000 members of military personnel taking part in the Coronation Procession, with immaculate coordination between regiments and military bands culminating in the Royal Salute; the Balcony appearance at Buckingham Palace and the flypast by the Red Arrows; and Prince Louis’s irrepressible yawns and jazzy waves.

As the 40th monarch to be crowned in Westminster Abbey, the oldest in history, and with coronation traditions in place for nearly 1,000 years, the pressure had been on – not just to get the Coronation right, but to make it meaningful and memorable for a 21st-century audience. As this was the first Coronation to be staged for 70 years, a period during which Britain and the world had undergone irrevocable change, no one involved in the Coronation organising in 2023 had hands-on experience of the last Coronation in 1953. It involved months of round-the-clock planning by The King and The Queen, the Palace, Lambeth Palace, the armed forces, the government, the police, broadcasters and many more.

A ceremony rooted in medieval tradition was delivered resplendently and seamlessly, fused with modern flourishes that felt apt, rather than jarring or contrived. The King’s decision to make music a feature of the service could not have been better judged.

Changes were rung, not as loudly as the 10 bells at the Abbey on Coronation Day, but with subtlety and sensitivity. Britain is famed for its pageantry, pomp and ceremony and this Coronation put Britain in the limelight the nation thrives on. But there was a genuine desire to make the day inclusive. Peers of the realm did not pay homage for the first time and most were not even invited.

Preference was given to meritocracy over aristocracy and the diverse mix of faces composed a very different congregation to that present at The King’s mother’s Coronation. It was of course a fully Christian and Protestant liturgy, but the Ceremony incorporated multi-faith and multi-language elements, with representatives of different faith groups playing an active role in presenting regalia and being greeted personally by The King before they departed the Abbey.

As Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, explained to the BBC’s Huw Edwards: “The biggest challenge is that it doesn’t look like a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta, but it reflects Britain as it is today, while holding on to the tradition of the past.” Welby explained that that the central theme of Charles’s Coronation is service. “The King receives all this authority to be a blessing and a servant to the people.” This was reflected in The King’s opening pledge: “I come not be served, but to serve.”

Controversy was defused when a last-minute change was made to the wording of the homage of the people, with the Archbishop inviting people around the country to join in if they wished, rather than a call to swear allegiance, which had caused widespread debate and comparisons with 1984.

Coronation Review - The Ceremony

The Ceremony was a feast for the eyes and the ears, and at moments tugged at the heartstrings. The world knew that the whole point is for The King and The Queen to be crowned. But when it came to the crowning itself, with the Archbishop of Canterbury’s hands outstretched above and deftly placing the St Edward’s Crown upon the royal brow, the emotion of the King was palpable. The burden of the duty that lay ahead, after 70 years of anticipating this moment, combined with the physical five-pound heft of the bejewelled Crown, weighed heavily. No wonder the King appeared solemn and pensive during many parts of the Ceremony.

For the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Crowning was a moment he was determined to get right. This is in contrast to the plight of Edward VII in 1902, whose June Coronation was postponed due to his appendicitis. When it did take place the following August, he suffered the indignity of the Crown being placed, or rather plonked, back to front by the then Archbishop, Frederick Temple, who suffered from poor eyesight.

In fact the Archbishop was so frail that he collapsed while paying homage to The King, who had to lift the cleric to his feet in order to carry on. No such risks for the Most Reverend Justin Welby, who had a replica crown made and went about crowning anyone who was willing to be a guinea king, memorising which jewels should face in which direction.

The throne itself was central to the occasion. As one guest at the Abbey, Charles Colville, Crossbench Member of the House of Lords, put it: “The star of the show was the nearly 800-year-old King Edward’s throne. It is worn by time, vandalised with graffiti and unadorned with gilt or baubles, yet it is a powerful reminder of one of the monarchy’s main roles – to reunite us with our past.”

A poignant moment in Charles’s Ceremony was the Anointing, the most sacred stage of all, shielded from all eyes and cameras, behind the Anointing Screen, with its striking design of a tree with 56 leaves, representing the 56 Commonwealth countries. The spine-tingling notes of Handel’s Zadok the Priest resounded throughout the Abbey as The King emerged from his communion with the Almighty. His humility, stripped of his Robes of State and dressed in his plain white Anointing gown, a simple shift, was humbling to behold.

Coronation Review - The Royal Family

Most moving of all was the Homage, when the Prince of Wales knelt before his father, pledged himself as “liege man of life and limb” and then gently kissed his father on the cheek. It was a moment of tenderness, indicating the growing bond between father and son, King and Heir, and evoking the reverse situation at his own Investiture as Prince of Wales in 1969, when Prince Charles knelt before his mother The Queen.

For Queen Camilla, her crowning encapsulated the remarkable transformation she has undergone, from reviled mistress after the death of Princess Diana to respected Queen. And Queen she is — it was no coincidence that the Palace discreetly removed all references to Queen Consort on the Palace website on Coronation Day. Admiration and affection for Camilla has grown with the passage of time, as she has demonstrated her dedication, grounded common sense, and playful humour. The mutual devotion between the couple is very apparent. How times have changed. It was unthinkable in the past for a divorcee to be crowned – indeed the last monarch who fell in love with a divorcee was forced to abdicate. The prominent presence of Camilla’s family at the Ceremony was also noticeable: her divorced husband, Andrew Parker Bowles, her stepchildren and step-grandchildren and her sister Annabel Elliot played a key role in attending her.

Two other women stood out on the day. Princess Anne was splendid in her bicorn hat and red plume, which happened to obscure the view of her nephew Prince Harry, who was sitting behind her. Harry was relegated to the third pew, despite being fifth in line to the throne, and made a quick dash for his flight back to LA. After a quick change, the 72-year-old grandmother of five and former Olympian equestrian rode behind her brother’s coach as Gold Stick in Waiting. This is a role conferred to her as Colonel of the Blues and Royals in the Household Cavalry regiment and means that she is entrusted to protect The King’s personal safety with a gold-headed ebony staff. Laugh not. There were admittedly 29,000 police officers on duty at the Coronation, but let’s not forget that Gold Stick is the person who sent an armed kidnapper packing on The Mall with a sharp “Not bloody likely.”

The other star was of course Penny Mordaunt, centre stage in her ceremonial role as Lord President of the Privy Council, whose sword-bearing skills went viral immediately.  She held the 8lb 17th-century silver-gilt Sword of Offering, made for George IV’s 1821 Coronation and encrusted with 2,141 diamonds, four rubies and 12 emeralds, with the steadiness of Cleopatra’s Needle planted on the Thames Embankment. Mordaunt’s poise in her teal tailored outfit was transfixing. Is it conceivable that Jacob Rees-Mogg could have pulled this off with similar aplomb – or train with push-ups in preparation? The serious risk to proceedings of “sword wobble” was thankfully averted by this former Royal Navy reservist.

Pens flowed beautifully and there was only one minor hiccough when The King and The Queen arrived a few minutes ahead of The Prince and The Princess of Wales, which is thought to have thrown The King into a state of
mild frustration.

This was nothing compared with faux pas at past coronations; for example at King George V’s service in 1821, when hot candle wax dripped onto the congregation. As recorded in The Illustrated London News, at Queen Victoria’s Coronation service the Bishop of Bath and Wells turned over two pages of the Service in error, missing out a whole section, causing The Queen to rise prematurely from her throne. That was after the Archbishop rammed the Coronation ring onto the wrong finger so forcefully that she had to stifle a cry of pain. We were not amused.

By contrast, The King has every reason to look back on his Coronation Day with pride and happy memories of the majestic day that it was. And, we suspect, with a sigh of relief that it is over, and looking forward to getting on with the “day job” of ruling.

Lead image by Hugo Burnand.

The Illustrated King Charles III by Illustrated London News is published on 12 May in major supermarkets, WH Smith at British Coronation.