King Charles’s coronation will be an occasion for ‘celebration and pageantry’ – find out all the details

The coronation of King Charles III will take place on Saturday 6 May with a bank holiday on Monday 8 May.

Like his mother, the King will be crowned at Westminster Abbey, in the presence of faith leaders, peers, MPs, and foreign heads of state.

Here Sky News looks at what we can expect from the service on Saturday 6 May that will be conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the events taking place in the following days.

What will happen on the day?

The Queen’s coronation took place at 11.15am on 2 June 1953.

Although specific timings have not yet been released, on the day, King Charles will travel from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey with his Queen Consort, Camilla, in what is known as “the King’s procession”.

Like his mother and father, they are likely to be taken in the gold state coach, which is reserved for coronations and jubilees.

Up to a million people travelled to London to watch the coach along the Mall in 1953.

The ceremony will be broadcast live on television, but the number of guests who attend in person is expected to be cut from 8,000 to 2,000.

It is thought it will be shorter than the previous one – lasting just over an hour instead of three.

Peers will wear suits and formal dresses as opposed to ceremonial robes and many of the traditional rituals, including the presentation of gold ingots, will not feature this time.

In a statement, Buckingham Palace said: “The coronation will reflect the monarch’s role today and look towards the future, while being rooted in longstanding traditions and pageantry.”

Despite speculation that the current cost of living crisis and the King’s desire for a slimmed down monarchy will mean a more muted ceremony, royal sources are adamant that feedback indicated people want to see the best of Britain today, and celebrate the United Kingdom’s rich and unique history.

There will also be similarities with the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee last year.

Queen Elizabeth’s son and heir wanted to follow a similar ethos of recognising community heroes and bringing people together, by encouraging street parties on Sunday 7 May and a day of volunteering events on Monday 8 May.

After the ceremony, the King and Queen Consort will be joined by other family members on the balcony of Buckingham Palace to conclude the day’s ceremonial events.

It is still unknown whether Prince Harry and wife Meghan will be among those attending.

Six-part ceremony

There are six parts to the coronation – the recognition, oath, anointing, investiture, enthronement and homage.

The recognition sees the monarch stand in the theatre – the central part of the Abbey – and turn to the north, south, east and west to “show himself unto the people”.

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby will then declare him the “undoubted King”.

This ritual dates back to Anglo-Saxon times.

Second is the coronation oath, which will see the King promise to reign according to law, exercise justice with mercy and maintain the Church of England.

He will then be presented with the Sword of State and declare at the altar: “The things which I have here before promised, I will perform, and keep. So help me God”, before kissing the Bible and signing the oath.

The third part – the anointing – follows, which is the process of blessing and consecrating the new monarch with holy oil – the central act of the religious ceremony. The King will remove his crimson robe and sit in King Edward’s Chair.

Fourthly, the investiture is the official crowning.

It will see the King dressed in special robes and presented with the orb, coronation ring, sceptre and rod.

Sitting in King Edward’s Chair, he will be crowned with St Edward’s Crown before the congregation shouts out “God Save the King”.

This is followed by the enthroning, which will see the monarch lifted onto a different throne by archbishops, bishops and “other peers of the kingdom”.

The final stage of the King’s coronation is known as homage.

It sees the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Prince of Wales and other royal blood princes paying tribute to the King by placing their hands between his and kissing his right hand.

Camilla to be crowned

The Queen Consort will then also be crowned.

Unlike the wives of Kings, the husbands of Queens do not become King Consorts and are therefore not crowned.

But ahead of her Platinum Jubilee, the Queen announced Camilla would be known as Queen Consort on King Charles’s accession.

Instead the Duke of Edinburgh “paid homage” to Queen Elizabeth II immediately after the formal coronation – as Prince William and other princes are likely to do this time.

The Queen Mother was anointed and crowned during her husband’s coronation in 1937.

According to the Royal Family’s website: “A Queen consort is crowned with the King, in a similar but simpler ceremony.”

The coronation concert

On Sunday, the day after the coronation, “global music icons and contemporary stars” descend on Windsor Castle for the coronation concert.

Thousands of members of the public will be selected to receive a pair of free tickets, which are up for grabs through a national ballot held by the BBC, which will also broadcast the event live.

The “world’s biggest entertainers” and world-class orchestras will be supported by a selection of dancers and spoken word sequences delivered by stars of stage and screen.

The Coronation Choir will also perform, created from members of the nation’s community choirs and amateur singers such as refugee choirs, NHS choirs and LGBTQ+ singing groups, in part to make the weekend feel as inclusive and diverse as possible.

The centrepiece of the coronation concert, dubbed by the palace as “lighting up the nation”, will see landmarks across the UK lit up using projections, lasers, drone displays and illuminations.

Others will be invited to gather at the Eden Project in Cornwall, for a “coronation big lunch”, overseen by The Big Lunch, an incentive which the Queen Consort has been patron of for 10 years.

Bank holiday Monday dubbed ‘the big help out’

Coronations have traditionally fallen on weekdays, which have been declared bank holidays to allow the public to get involved by either watching on TV or crowding the streets in London.

As King Charles’s coronation will fall on a Saturday, Monday 8 May has been set as a bank holiday in all four nations of the UK.

The day is being billed as “the big help out” and has been set aside for volunteering to help highlight the positive impact volunteering has on communities.

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Organised by The Together Coalition and a wide range of partners such as The Scouts, the Royal Voluntary Service and faith groups from across the UK, the palace said it will be in tribute to the King’s public service and will help “encourage people to try volunteering for themselves”.

The government has already launched a consultation on extending pub opening hours throughout the coronation weekend, meaning pubs in England and Wales could be allowed to stay open until 1am from Friday to Sunday.