Coronation of Charles III and Camilla
The coronation of Charles III and his wife, Camilla, as king and queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms, took place on Saturday, 6 May 2023 at Westminster Abbey. Charles acceded to the throne on 8 September 2022 upon the death of his mother, Elizabeth II. It was the first coronation held since Elizabeth II’s coronation in 1953 nearly 70 years prior.
The King and Queen waving from the balcony of Buckingham Palace following the coronation service
Members of the British Armed Forces conduct a rehearsal on 2 May
Charles meeting with foreign dignitaries at a reception in the Picture Gallery of Buckingham Palace on 5 May
Invitation to the coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla
Coronation of the British monarch
The coronation of the monarch of the United Kingdom is an initiation ceremony in which they are formally invested with regalia and crowned at Westminster Abbey. It corresponds to the coronations that formerly took place in other European monarchies, which have all abandoned coronations in favour of inauguration or enthronement ceremonies. A coronation is a symbolic formality and does not signify the official beginning of the monarch's reign; de jure and de facto their reign commences from the moment of the preceding monarch's death or abdication, maintaining legal continuity of the monarchy.
George VI receiving the homage after being crowned in 1937; watercolour by Henry Charles Brewer
Coronation of Harold II at Westminster Abbey in 1066, from the Bayeux Tapestry
Coronation of Henry IV at Westminster Abbey in 1399
Alexander III of Scotland at his coronation aged eight at Scone Abbey in 1249, being greeted by the royal poet who will recite the king's genealogy
