King Charles’ Coronation

The bank holiday weekend of Saturday 6 May to Monday 8 May marked a weekend of celebration for the king’s coronation. As well as a royal crowning ceremony at Westminster Abbey, there was also a concert – including performances from Katy Perry and Take That – street parties nationwide, and a day of volunteering.

Traditional gun salutes also took place in cities across the UK, with guns being fired at the exact moment at which the king was crowned. In addition, more than 6,000 British and Irish armed forces marched alongside other military personnel from across the Commonwealth.

The coronation also included some very historic objects - one of which being a horse-drawn carriage that the new king used to travel to his coronation in. This carriage, the Gold State Coach, has been used in every coronation since the 1830s ever since it was built by Samuel Butler in 1762.

During the coronation, the king sat on the St Edward’s chair, or the coronation chair. It was originally made by order of England's King Edward I in the 1300. The chair was originally covered in gold leaf patterns with gold, stone lions added to the feet of the chair that were then replaced in 1727.

Finally, the crown was given. King Charles III was only the seventh monarch to wear it after Charles II, James II, William III, George V, George VI, and Elizabeth II. Right before his coronation, 6 monarchs have worn the crown in the past 360 years. This crown weighs over 2kg (5lb)!