“King Charles’s Coronation: Guests, Procession, Ceremony and More”

London is thronged today with guests for King Charles’s coronation tomorrow at Westminster Abbey.

According to Buckingham Palace, more than 2,000 guests have been invited. They include members of the royal family, international representatives from 203 countries, including about 100 heads of state and “community and charity champions”, people who are or have been involved in charitable causes.

There will be a reception at Buckingham Palace tonight in the run-up to the coronation. Princess Beatrix and Princess Amalia are also present on behalf of the Netherlands. King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima will attend the coronation tomorrow.

The ceremony starts tomorrow at 12:00 Dutch time. There is already the so-called King’s Processionthe journey of King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey, with tens of thousands of people expected to line the route.

Check out the route the couple is taking here:

In a departure from tradition, Charles and Camilla cover that distance in the relatively modern Diamond Jubilee State Coach from 2012, with electric windows and air conditioning instead of the traditional one Gold State Coach.

At Westminster Abbey, Charles will take the King’s Oath, swearing to uphold the law and the Church of England, and will be anointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

He is crowned with the Saint Edward’s crown and is presented with religious and royal objects, such as the coronation sword, a scepter and the orb.

Correspondent Fleur Launspach explains what to expect on Coronation Day, the first in seventy years:

Then he will ascend the throne and be honored by those present in the church. A new element in the ceremony is that the archbishop will ask subjects worldwide to swear allegiance to the king, even if they are not present in the church.

“I do swear to be truly faithful to Your Majesty and to your successors,” participants at home and Westminster Abbey are asked to pronounce, concluding with “So help me God almighty.” When the Archbishop of Canterbury afterwards shouts “Long live the King”, the people must reply “Long live King Charles, may he live forever”.

After Charles’s coronation, Queen Consort Camilla will be similarly anointed and crowned, and from then on she will bear the title of Queen.

Afterwards, the King and Queen return to Buckingham Palace by carriage. During this one Coronation Procession they will be in the traditional one Gold State Coach steps, which has been used at every coronation since 1831. Queen Elizabeth later called the ride in that bumping carriage “terrible”.

After arriving at Buckingham Palace, a balcony scene with the royal couple and other members of the royal family follows and a salute from the Royal Air Force.

The official part of the coronation is much smaller than that of his mother seventy years ago.

For example, the processional route of 2.3 kilometers is much shorter than the 7 kilometers covered in 1953 and the procession is much more modest. At Queen Elizabeth’s coronation, 16,000 people took part and it took 45 minutes at a fixed point in the route for the entire procession to pass.

This is what Elizabeth’s coronation looked like on the Polygoon newsreel.

The ceremony itself lasted more than three hours in 1953 and was attended by 8,000 guests. Tomorrow there will be about 2200 guests in Westminster Abbey and the ceremony will last just over an hour.

The day after the coronation, the celebration continues with the Coronation Concert at Windsor Castle. Artists such as Katy Perry, Lionel Richie, Take That and Andrea Bocelli will make an appearance as well as a number of Welsh artists and the Coronation Choir featuring singers from all over the country.

Volunteers from Charles and Camilla’s charities are invited to the concert, as well as thousands of guests who have won a ticket in a national lottery. The BBC broadcasts the concert live.

There is also Sunday The Coronation Big Lunchasking neighborhoods and communities across Britain to hold luncheons as a remedy for loneliness and to increase community spirit.

follows in the evening Lighting up the Nation, highlighting iconic locations across the UK.

Monday is finally there The Big Help Out encouraging people to volunteer in the area where they live. All residents of the United Kingdom have been given an extra day off especially for the coronation.