Carlos III will be crowned on Saturday, May 6, 2023 in a solemn ceremony at Westminster Abbey in London together with the queen consort, Camila, Buckingham Palace announced on Tuesday.
The 73-year-old British monarch, who ascended to the throne automatically on the death of his mother, Elizabeth II, on September 8, will receive, after a period of several months of mourning and preparation for the ceremony, the crown, the scepter and the orb, symbols of his reign.
The religious rite, officiated by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, “will reflect the role of the monarch today and look to the future, while being rooted in pageantry and historical traditions,” described the Palace.
The coronation is a rite that has remained almost unchanged since the Norman conquest of England in 1066, and has been celebrated for nearly 900 years in Westminster Abbey.
The May church service is expected to include the main traditional elements that have been repeated without alteration for centuries, along with some novel components, in keeping with the “spirit of our times”, Buckingham has suggested.
Among commentators on the monarchy in the United Kingdom, it is expected that Charles III will opt for a somewhat more modest ceremony than the lavish coronation of his mother, on June 2, 1953, and that it reflects his desire to apply some austerity to British royalty. .
The new monarch will swear before the archbishop his intention to reign over his country and the other 14 of which he is head of state, including Australia, Canada and New Zealand, “according to their respective laws and customs”, as well as applying the “law and justice” in their decisions.
Camila will be crowned along with Carlos III as queen consort with a “similar, although simpler” liturgy, as described by Buckingham Palace.
Only in the event that the new monarch is a woman, her husband is not crowned with her, as was the case with Elizabeth II’s husband, Prince Philip of Edinburgh.
Official spokesmen for the British king will offer “in due course” more details about the organization of next year’s ceremony, which in 1953 brought together heads of state and government from the Commonwealth and numerous countries in London.
