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The Coronation of His Majesty King Charles III and Camilla, the Queen Consort, will take place on Saturday 6th May 2023.
The King's Procession
The day will begin with the King and Queen taking part in a 1.3 mile procession from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey.
The public viewing areas along both sides of the Mall and Whitehall will not open until 6 AM. [Note: This is the official information, but people have actually been camping out down The Mall days in advance.] It's not possible to book a ticket in advance, and access will be on a first-come, first-served basis. Stands will also be erected outside Buckingham Palace for invited guests, military veterans and NHS staff.
If you can't get in any of those then large TV screens will be erected in St. James's Park (north of the lake) and Green Park (near Canada Gate). Four large TV screens will also be erected in Hyde Park, which will open to the public at 5 AM.
Members of the armed forces will start to form up around Buckingham Palace at 9.45 AM.
The King and Queen will leave the palace at 10.20 AM, passing around the north-side of the Queen Victoria Memorial and then down the Mall in the Diamond Jubilee State Coach, accompanied by The Sovereign’s Escort of the Household Cavalry. They will then pass through Admiralty Arch and skirt the south side of Trafalgar Square, continuing down Whitehall and Parliament Street, and then along the east and south sides of Parliament Square to Westminster Abbey.
The King and Queen are expected to reach the Abbey at 10.53 AM and enter through the Great West Door at 11 AM.
The Coronation Service
Members of the public will not be allowed inside Westminster Abbey itself, as the 8,000 strong congregation will be made up of members of the Royal Family, other Royals from around the world, foreign heads of state, leading British politicians, and the Prime Minister.
The service will begin at 11 AM and will be broadcast live on the BBC.
The Coronation Service has remained largely unchanged for over 1,000 years and will begin with the Recognition, when Charles will be presented to the congregation by the Archbishop of Canterbury as he stands beside the Coronation Chair. They will then shout out "God Save the King!" to a fanfare of trumpets.
This will be followed by the Oath and the ancient Anointing, when Charles will sit on the Coronation Chair and be anointed with holy oils.
The actual Investiture will take place at 12 noon, when Charles will be presented with the Royal Orb (representing his religious and moral authority), the Sceptre (representing his power) and Sovereign's Sceptre (representing justice and mercy).
St Edward's Crown will then be placed on his head, officially crowning him as King Charles III. Towards the end of the ceremony he will also wear the Imperial State Crown.
The Queen Consort will then be anointed and crowned in the same way.
The Service will feature a performance by Welsh opera singer Sir Bryn Terfel and twelve newly-commissioned pieces that were personally chosen by Charles himself, including a brand-new anthem by Andrew Lloyd Webber.
The Coronation Procession
At 1 PM the newly-crowned King and Queen will take part in a more spectacular procession back to Buckingham Palace.
Elizabeth II's procession in 1953 contained 16,000 participants and took over 45 minutes to pass each point, but Charles will just be repeating the outward procession in reverse -- Westminster Abbey to Trafalgar Square via Whitehall and Admiralty Arch, and then up the Mall to Buckingham Palace via the south-side of the Queen Victoria Memorial. But this time the King and Queen will be riding in the spectacular Gold State Coach, drawn by eight Windsor Greys (this is the one that's usually on display at the Royal Mews).
The return procession will also include The Sovereign's Bodyguard, Royal Watermen, and members of the Armed Forces from the United Kingdom and across the Commonwealth, and is expected to take much longer than the outward journey because the Gold State Coach weighs over four tonnes -- it's so heavy that it can only travel at walking pace.
The parade is expected to take 22 minutes to pass each point on the road, and the King and Queen will enter Buckingham Palace through the centre gate at 1.33 PM.
Balcony appearance and RAF flypast
At 1.45 PM the King and Queen will take a Royal Salute from the Armed Forces on the West Terrace of the palace (not visible to the public).
At 2.15 PM they will appear on the Royal Balcony wearing the Imperial State Crown and Queen Mary's Crown to acknowledge the thousands of people lining the Mall, along with other members of the Royal Family.
The day will end with a spectacular flypast by the RAF.
Your comments and questions
Susan When should I arrive to see the parade?
Staff Hi Susan. Nobody can say for certain, but it's quite a short procession route so if you want to be at the front of the crowd then I'd imagine that you'll have to arrive early on the previous day and be prepared to camp out overnight -- but it's possible even that will be too late. The very best positions will probably be taken by people arriving several days beforehand.
Staff New information says the viewing areas along both sides of the Mall and Whitehall will not open until 6 AM on the actual day. Access will be on a first-come, first-served basis. The grandstands outside Buckingham Palace will be for invited guests, military veterans and NHS staff.
Di I'm thinking of getting the tube to Embankment, then walking through Whitehall Place to Horse guards? What do you think?
Staff Hi Di. Sounds like a good idea but bear in mind it will be packed with thousands and thousands of people. There will probably be a security cordon up somewhere so you might have to enter Whitehall through there. On Remembrance Day they make you go through a cordon at the end of Westminster Bridge, by Big Ben. But full details haven't been released yet.
Sarah People have started arriving already and are sitting in deckchairs along the route. And there are still six days to go! I really want to see the Coronation but I don't think I can face camping out for a whole week at my age