Charles III has been crowned Britain’s monarch on Saturday in a ceremony steeped in a millennia of tradition and pageantry inside Westminster Abbey.
Shouts of “God Save the King” rang out and trumpets sounded after the Archbishop of Canterbury placed the crown on Charles’s head.
The coronation of Charles, 74, in Westminster Abbey comes almost eight months after he ascended the throne following the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, on Sept. 8, 2022, a day that marked the end of an era defined by her 70-year reign.
King Charles became the 40th monarch to be crowned at Westminster Abbey in a tradition dating back to 1066.
His wife, Camilla, previously known as the queen consort, will be now referred to as Queen Camilla.
Hours before the ceremony, in a moment of levity, or perhaps a keen appreciation of practical necessities, watchers near Trafalgar Square early Saturday enthusiastically cheered the passage of a truck carrying portable toilets. Many watchers wore hats and makeshift garments emblazoned with royalty-themed regalia, or wrapped themselves in British flag.
Security surrounding the event was the largest such operation in many years, said officials of the Metropolitan Police, which was fielding 11,000 officers to keep watch over the proceedings.
Charles has actually been king since September, when his widely revered mother died at 96 after 70 years on the throne, which made her the longest-serving British monarch. The coronation is meant to affirm and formalize his role, while boosting national unity and providing the kind of royal spectacle and iconic imagery that draws visitors from all over the world.
