LONDON: Charles III was crowned monarch of the United Kingdom and 14 Common­wealth realms on Saturday at Britain’s first coronation for 70 years, during a ceremony steeped in a millennium of ritual and spectacle.

Charles, 74, became the oldest sovereign yet to be crowned at London’s Westminster Abbey after a lifetime as heir to his late mother, Queen Elizabeth II. At 12:02pm local time (5:02pm PST), Archb­i­shop of Canterbury Justin Welby placed the solid-gold St Edw­ard’s Crown on Charles’s head as a sacred and ancient sym­­bol of the monarch’s authority.

Welby also crowned Charles’s wife, Camilla, 75, capping a remarkable transformation from her role as royal mistress to queen consort and now queen.

Cries of “God Save the King” rang out from the 2,300-member congregation, which included royalty and government leaders from worldwide.

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Trumpet fanfare sounded at Westminster Abbey, along with gun salutes across Britain and beyond.

Returning to Buckingham Palace in the day’s second horse-drawn parade, the royal family appeared on the balcony to applause and more chants of approbation from tens of thousands of well-wishers braving a spring downpour.

Some had camped out for days. A ceremonial fly-past was scaled down due to the weather.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also joined a galaxy of foreign royals, officials and heads of the states and governments at the coronation.

The premier, who arrived at the Westminster Abbey along with other foreign dignitaries, met different world leaders on the sidelines, including the presidents of Brazil, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Zambia, Mauritius, Malta, the secretary general of Commonwealth, and UK Minister of State (Development and Africa) Andrew Mitchell.

On Twitter, Mr Sharif said that during his address at the Commonwealth leaders’ meeting on Friday, he made a case for reenergising Commonwealth with a focus on youth empowerment.

“I shared with the world leaders the details of our Youth Programme that is based on four Es: Education, Employment, Engagement and Environment. Women and members of minority communities are a special focus of the loan scheme,” he tweeted on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb said that during the Friday event, Mr Sharif had extended an invitation to King Charles to visit Pakistan.

Changes

King Charles pledged “I come not to be served but to serve” during the Anglican service, much of which would have been recognisable to the 39 other monarchs crowned at Westminster Abbey since William the Conqueror in 1066.

But while many of the intricate rituals and ceremony to recognise Charles as his people’s “undoubted king” remained, the sovereign sought to bring other aspects of the service up to date.

Female bishops and choristers participated for the first time, as did leaders of Britain’s non-Christian faiths, while its Celtic languages — Welsh, Scottish Gaelic and Irish Gaelic — featured prominently.

As king, Charles is the supreme governor of the Protestant Church of England and has described himself as a “committed Anglican Christian”.

But key elements of the service recognised that Charles heads a more religiously and ethnically diverse country than the one his mother inherited in the shadow of World War II.

In another change, the coronation themes mirrored his lifelong interest in biodiversity and sustainability.

Ceremonial vestments from previous coronations were reused, and the anointing oil — created from olives on groves on the Mount of Olives and perfumed with essential oils — was vegan.

Charles was anointed out of sight of the congregation behind a three-sided screen in front of the abbey’s High Altar, to the strains of Handel’s soaring anthem “Zadok the Priest”, sung at every coronation since 1727.

Published in Dawn, May 7th, 2023