Millions worldwide will be able to watch King’s coronation thanks to technology
MANY millions of viewers around the world will get the chance to pay a “Homage of the People” to the King during his Coronation, we can reveal.
Thanks to the internet and mobile devices, even more viewers from across the globe will be able to see Saturday’s event at Westminster Abbey compared to the Queen’s crowning in 1953.
And in one of a series of firsts, the words of the homage will be shown on screens to make it easy for people to read out loud wherever they may be.
Well-wishers will be asked to say: “I swear that I will pay true allegiance to Your Majesty, and to your heirs and successors according to law. So help me God.”
Organisers say the words will form a “great cry around the nation and world”.
Lambeth Palace said: “It is the first time in history a chorus of millions around the world are invited to participate in this solemn and joyful moment.”
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To unite the four corners of the UK, the ceremony will see Welsh, Irish Gaelic and Scots Gaelic language used, while Islam, Sikh, Jewish and Hindu faith leaders will make a separate greeting.
The crowning ceremony has been rewritten and updated to reflect the “rich diversity of the nation today”.
The Archbishop of Canterbury will swear allegiance to the King, followed by homage from Prince William, who will pledge loyalty as “liege man of life and limb”.
The Archbishop will then “call upon all persons of goodwill in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and of the other Realms and the Territories to make their homage, in heart and voice, to their undoubted King, defender of all”.
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Lambeth Palace explained: “The Homage of the People is particularly exciting because it’s brand new and something we can share.
“Not just the people in the Abbey, but people who are online, on television and gathered in parks and big screens and churches.
“So our hope is that, at that point when the Archbishop invites people to join in, people wherever they are can say it out loud so there is this sense of a great cry around the nation and around the world in support of the King.”
The Homage of the People replaces the lengthy homage by dukes and peers, which will cut the length of the service in half.
And the call of support from those in the Abbey and watching on TV is not the only first among the 39 coronations at Westminster Abbey since 1066.
On entering, following the flag-waving procession, King Charles III will pause in the Abbey to speak to chorister Samuel Strachan, 14, who is the current longest serving member of the Choir of His Majesty’s Chapel Royal at St James’s Palace.
For the first time in British coronation history, the Kyrie Eleison hymn — Lord, Have Mercy — will be sung in Welsh.
And the hymn Veni Creator Spiritus — Come, Creator Spirit — which has been part of coronations since the 14th century, will be sung in English, Welsh, Scots Gaelic and Irish Gaelic.
Although the King will be referred to as “Defender of the Faith” by the Archbishop, the new monarch will never utter the phrase himself.
In a new preface ahead of issuing the Coronation Oath, the Archbishop will say the church will “seek to foster an environment in which people of all faiths and beliefs may live freely”.
In another first, viewers will see and hear the King say a newly-written prayer aloud in front of the entire congregation.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, a Hindu, will give a reading from the Bible, in what is described by organisers as an “innovation”.
Before leaving the Abbey, the King will stand before leaders of faith communities as they deliver a greeting in unison.
They will be Bogoda Seelawimala Thera of the Buddhist faith, the Lord Singh of Wimbledon for the Sikh community, Radha Mohan das, of the Hindu faith and Aliya Azam, for the Islamic community.
Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis will make the greeting from the Jewish community.
Despite the many changes, Charles and Camilla will wear robes worn by previous monarchs, it has been revealed.
The King and Queen Consort will both wear two ornate robes and have to get changed during the Coronation ceremony. They will both arrive at Westminster Abbey wearing the Robe of State, but each leave in the Robe of Estate after they have been crowned.
Both robes worn by Charles were used by King George VI during his 1937 Coronation. Camilla’s Robe of State was worn by Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, but she has been given a new Robe of Estate.
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And the Stone of Destiny — used in English coronations since King Edward I stole it from Scotland in 1296 — arrived back in London last night. It was returned north of the border in 1996 and is on loan.
It came as royal fans set up camp on the Mall for front row seats.
