King Charles and Queen Camilla wave to the crowds.
Image courtesy: BBC
King Charles III crowned amid pomp and pageantry
LONDON, May 6, 2023
King Charles III was anointed and crowned on Saturday in Britain's biggest ceremonial event for seven decades, in front of a congregation including about 100 world leaders and a television audience of millions.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, the spiritual leader of the Anglican Church, placed the 360-year-old St Edward's Crown on Charles' head as he sat upon a 14th-century throne in Westminster Abbey, Reuters reported.
During a historic and solemn two-hour service, which dates back to the time of King William the Conqueror in 1066, Charles' second wife Camilla was also crowned queen.
A huge military procession followed, gun salutes were fired, thousands of soldiers roared three cheers, and there was a scaled-down flypast by military aircraft as the newly-crowned king and queen waved from the balcony of Buckingham Palace to cheering crowds who gathered on The Mall boulevard.
While rooted in history, the ceremony - televised for only the second time - was also an attempt to present a forward-looking institution and to reflect a more diverse country with all its religions, the report said.
"No other country could put on such a dazzling display - the processions, the pageantry, the ceremonies, and street parties," Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said.
With Britain struggling to find its way in the political maelstrom after its exit from the European Union and maintain its standing in a new world order, the monarchy's supporters say the royal family provides an international draw, a vital diplomatic tool and a means of keeping it on the world stage.
