King Charles III’s coronation is to be held on Saturday 6 May, at Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace has announced.
Camilla, the Queen Consort, will be alongside the King and will also be crowned in the historic ceremony.
King Charles became monarch when his mother the late Queen died, but the coronation will mark a symbolic celebration of his new reign.
With much pageantry and ritual, the King will be anointed as sovereign and a crown placed on his head.
Next year’s coronation will be the first for almost 70 years – the last being for Elizabeth II in June 1953 – and the first held on a Saturday since Edward VII in 1902.
It is not yet known whether there will be an extra bank holiday added or moved to the coronation weekend, with a bank holiday already scheduled for earlier that week on Monday 1 May.
Buckingham Palace has indicated that the ceremony will combine the ancient and modern – saying it will be “rooted in longstanding traditions” but will also “reflect the monarch’s role today and look towards the future”.
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Camilla, the Queen Consort will be crowned as part of the service, in a similar but simpler ceremony to the crowning of the King.
King Charles will be 74 at the coronation – the oldest that a new monarch has been crowned. The date will also be the fourth birthday of his grandson Archie, the son of Prince Harry and Meghan.
Coronations have been held at London’s Westminster Abbey for more than 900 years, with the medieval church the setting for a ceremony that is a mixture of religious and constitutional symbolism.
Next year’s coronation will be presided over by the Archbishop of Canterbury.
