The United Kingdom hasn’t had a coronation in 70 years. So you can better believe it’s going all out for King Charles III.
While many traditions will be observed exactly as they were in 1953 when Queen Elizabeth II was crowned, there will be modern adjustments to the grand event to reflect both the changing times and the 74-year-old monarch’s sensibilities, Charles being the oldest-ever person to assume the British throne.
“Hundreds of millions of people are expected to watch this coronation,” royal correspondent Sharon Carpenter told E! News in an exclusive interview ahead of the big day. “And he’s bringing together the best of both worlds. Tradition, pageantry, a thousand years of history—but he knows how important it is to send the message, ‘We’re not living in the past, we are living in the now, this is a monarchy that is still relevant.'”
The queen’s coronation was the first to be televised—it took some convincing from the forward-thinking Prince Philip (the queen’s consort and chair of the Coronation Commission) to get his wife and various officials on board—and Charles’ ceremony on May 6 at London’s Westminster Abbey, needless to say, will be the first ever to be streamed.
He also, incidentally, has a much bigger extended family than his mother did when she became queen at 25. One of the few details that had been up in the air—whether or not both of Charles’ sons would be in attendance—fell into place April 12 when the palace confirmed that Prince Harry would be there, albeit without his wife Meghan Markle.
But come rain or come shine, the intricate plans will proceed as scheduled. Here’s everything you need to know about Charles’ coronation, as we know it.
