Artillery salutes to herald noon crowning of King Charles III

Artillery gun salutes across the United Kingdom and on its ships at sea will herald the crowning of King Charles III at about noon today, in the country’s first royal coronation in almost 70 years.

Buckingham Palace said last night that it expects the formal crowning to take place approximately one hour after the 11am start of the service in London’s Westminster Abbey, which has been the site of the coronation of British monarchs for almost 1,000 years.

The moment will be witnessed by a congregation of about 2,200 invited guests inside the abbey, including royals from around the world and about 100 heads of state. Political leaders such as Brazilian president Lula da Silva and French president Emmanuel Macron will attend. Jill Biden, wife of US president Joe Biden, is attending in place of her husband.

The Republic is one of the few states with both its head of State and head of Government invited, with President Michael D Higgins and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar due to attend. Sinn Féin leader in Northern Ireland Michelle O’Neill will also be there.

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Large parts of central London will shut down for the event, which includes two formal processions through the centre of the city, a flypast of about 60 Royal Air Force jets and one of the largest security operations London has seen for many years. Several streets around Westminster and the procession route to and from Buckingham Palace were being closed down late on Friday evening, as tourists jostled in the fading sunlight to catch a glimpse of the final preparations.

Among the several hundred thousand well-wishers expected to line the procession route, there will also be protesters from anti-monarchy groups such as Republic. It complained this week that it received “intimidatory” letters from the Home Office reminding its members that new laws were recently passed to toughen criminal sanctions for certain forms of disruptive protest. Republic said its protests will be peaceful.

The coronation is expected to directly cost British taxpayers up to £100 million (€113 million), although a survey by the website VoucherCodes predicted that the weekend’s festivities could also result in a £3.2 billion consumer spending boost for the British economy, over and above a normal bank holiday weekend.

Although guests are due to start arriving at the abbey from early morning, proceedings will not start formally until 10.20am, when the king and Queen Camilla, who will be crowned immediately after her husband, leave Buckingham Palace in a parade known as the “King’s Procession”.

They will travel the 1.4 miles from the palace to Westminster Abbey in the modern air-conditioned diamond jubilee state coach, flanked by cavalry. Following presentations of ancient regalia and the taking of an oath by the king, he will be anointed with holy oil by the Archbishop of Canterbury before the 360-year-old St Edward Crown is placed on his head.

At this moment, said Buckingham Palace sources, there will be a fanfare and the bells of the abbey will ring out for two minutes. There will also be simultaneous gun salutes in central London at Horse Guards Parade nearby and at the Tower of London, as well as at saluting stations across the UK, Gibraltar, Bermuda and at sea.

Following the conclusion of the Westminster Abbey service at about 1pm, the king and queen will then ride in the 260-year-old gold state coach back to Buckingham Palace for another military salute, the flypast and an appearance by members of the royal family on the Buckingham Palace balcony facing the Mall. There will be a celebration concert on the grounds of Windsor Castle in Berkshire, an hour outside London, on Sunday evening. Monday is also a bank holiday in the UK.