London, United Kingdom (CNN) – Buckingham Palace revealed, on Saturday, the details of the coronation of King Charles III, which will witness three days of celebrations across the country, and the public will be invited to participate in it.
The coronation will take place on Saturday, May 6, with a “big coronation lunch” and “coronation party” the next day, and an additional bank holiday on Monday. On the final day, the public will be invited to join the charity “The Big Help Out” by volunteering in their communities.
“Everyone is welcome to join, any day,” Michele Donnellan, the UK’s minister for digital, culture, media and sport, said in a statement.
“Whether it’s hosting a private street party, watching The Coronation Ball or a great concert on TV, or stepping through The Big Help Out to help out with causes that matter to them.”
The palace said the coronation itself would be “a solemn religious service, as well as an occasion for ceremony and pageantry,” led by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby.
The palace reiterated that it “will reflect the king’s role today and look to the future, while being rooted in time-honoured traditions and delights.”
This line from the palace has been interpreted by experts as a hint that Charles’ coronation will be different and more subdued than the one experienced by his late mother seven decades earlier, with a shorter ceremony and modifications to some of the feudal elements of the ritual. The coronation of Queen Elizabeth was the first live televised royal event and lasted three hours.
Charles and his wife Camilla, Queen Queen, would arrive at Westminster Abbey in a procession from Buckingham Palace, known as the “King’s Procession”, and return later in a larger ceremonial procession, known as the “Coronational March”, accompanied by other members of the royal family.
The King and Queen, along with members of the royal family, will appear on the balcony of Buckingham Palace to conclude the day’s events.
At this point, the palace has not specified which family members will appear in the procession and on the balcony, after Prince Andrew’s continued banishment from public life as a result of the historic sexual abuse allegations and the publication of Prince Harry’s memoirs that criticized his family.
Royal historian Kate Williams previously told CNN: “It would help Charles a lot in terms of his image if Harry and Meghan were there. It would look especially bad for him if his son wasn’t there because, of course, Harry is still very high in the line to the throne, and so his children.”
In a sign that not all Britons will celebrate the event, the anti-monarchy campaign group Republic has vowed to protest near Westminster Abbey. “Coronation is a celebration of power and hereditary privilege that has no place in modern society,” group spokesman Graham Smith said in a statement.
“At a cost of tens of millions of pounds, this pointless theatrical piece is a slap in the face to the millions of people suffering from the cost of living crisis,” he added.
He continued: “We have already been in contact with the Metropolitan Police, and we expect them to facilitate a peaceful and meaningful protest. We intend to make our presence felt in Parliament Square as the royal cortege passes to the Abbey.”
On the day after the coronation, May 7, thousands of events are expected to take place across the country as part of the “big coronation lunch”, while “world music icons and contemporary stars” who have not yet been named will gather. The coronation ceremony will take place, the palace said. In the east garden of Windsor Castle.
The ceremony will be attended by a general audience made up of volunteers from the King and Queen Consort’s charities, as well as several thousand audience members chosen through a national poll conducted by the BBC.
They will see works by “a world-class orchestra playing musical favorites in front of some of the world’s biggest artists, alongside artists from the world of dance… and a selection of spoken word sequences delivered by stars of stage and screen,” the palace said, adding that a list will be released in Good time.
It will form a diverse group made up of British refugee choirs, NHS choirs, gay singing groups and deaf choirs, along with a ‘virtual choir’ made up of singers from across the Commonwealth.
Known locations around the country will also be lit up with projections, lasers, drone shows, and lighting as part of the concert.
The bank holiday festivities, Monday, will conclude with hundreds of activities planned by local community groups.
