The coronation regalia is at the heart of the crown jewels, locked away in the Tower of London.
The King’s crowning ceremony will be a rare outing for the sacred collection, with dozens of important and symbolic objects to keep an eye out for.
From crowns and swords to sceptres and orbs, here’s what you can expect to see on 6 May as the King and Queen Consort are officially crowned – and what they all mean.
St Edward’s Crown
Starting with one of the biggest first – literally, as St Edward’s Crown weighs 2.23kg (nearly 5lbs).
This solid gold crown, set with precious stones and fringed with ermine, will be put on the King’s head at the moment of crowning.
That is the only time the crown is worn. Historically it wasn’t allowed out of Westminster Abbey, and so a second crown was made for the monarch to wear as they processed out of the coronation ceremony.
The Queen reportedly practised walking with bags of flour on her head to get used to the weight of the crowns.
Imperial state crown
This is the monarch’s “working crown”, worn on formal occasions such as the state opening of parliament.
Like the St Edward’s Crown, it features a plush purple velvet cap beneath its gold arches.
Made for the coronation of King George VI in 1937, the crown is set with 2,868 diamonds as well as 17 sapphires, 11 emeralds and 269 pearls.
According to legend, one of its stones, the black prince ruby, was worn by Henry V in his helmet at the Battle of Agincourt.
It’s been moved from the Tower of London, where it is normally kept, to be resized and updated to suit her preferences; the number of arches will be reduced from eight to four.
The crown was originally commissioned for the coronation of Mary of Teck as Queen Consort at the coronation of King George V in 1911.
After the coronation, the Queen Consort will be known as Queen Camilla.
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King’s coronation route revealed
Ampulla and spoon
The gold ampulla, cast in the form of an eagle with outspread wings, and the coronation spoon are used for the most sacred part of the service – the anointing of the monarch with holy oil.
The eagle’s head unscrews so it can be filled with oil and there is a tiny hole in its beak from which oil is poured into the spoon.
Legend has it Thomas A Becket saw the objects in a dream, presented to him by the Virgin Mary to use to anoint future kings.
Image: The ampulla. Pic: Royal Collection Trust/His Majesty King Charles III 2023.
The 12th-century spoon is the oldest object used in the coronation and a “great survivor”, according to Kathryn Jones, senior curator at the Royal Collection Trust.
Almost all regalia was melted down in 1649 during the English Civil War but the spoon escaped, bought by a man who looked after Charles I’s wardrobe and later sold back to Charles II.
The archbishop pours oil from the ampulla into the spoon, then dips two fingers in the oil to anoint the head, breast and hands of the monarch.
The holy oil – chrism – was consecrated at a ceremony in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem in March.
It was created using olives which had been harvested from groves on the Mount of Olives, a mountain ridge which runs from Jerusalem’s Old City which has major religious symbolism for Christians and Jews.
It’s perfumed with sesame, rose, jasmine, cinnamon, neroli, benzoin and amber as well as orange blossom.
Image: The coronation spoon. Pic: Royal Collection Trust/His Majesty King Charles III 2023.
St Edward’s staff
The staff is described as an “enigmatic object” by Charles Farris, public historian for Historic Royal Palaces.
That’s because no one is quite sure what it was originally used for.
In 1660, regalia was remade for the coronation of Charles II after it had all been destroyed, and despite the purpose and appearance of the staff having been forgotten, it too was reconstructed.
It has continued to be carried in coronation processions although it serves no function in the ceremony.
Three swords
The swords of mercy, spiritual justice and temporal justice are likely to be some of the first objects you see in the coronation, as they are carried – upright and unsheathed – before the sovereign in the procession into Westminster Abbey.
The swords symbolise royal powers and responsibilities and the sword of mercy has a symbolically blunt end.
Image: The swords of temporal justice, mercy and spiritual Justice.
Pic: Royal Collection Trust/His Majesty King Charles III 2023
Jewelled sword of offering, spurs and armills
The sword of offering is one of the objects the sovereign is invested with during the ceremony, after the anointing.
The King will be robed and presented with a number of symbolic objects, including the sword, spurs and armills, or bracelets.
The spurs represent the knightly values of protecting the weak and the church while the armills symbolise the bond the monarch has with their people and the values of sincerity and wisdom.
Image: The jewelled sword of offering. Pic: Royal Collection Trust
Two sceptres
The sceptre with cross represents temporal and spiritual power. It is placed in the monarch’s right hand and they keep hold of it during crowning and throning and carry it in the procession.
The sceptre with dove goes in the left hand and represents spiritual power, with the dove symbolising the holy spirit.
Image: St Edward’s Staff, the sceptre with dove and the sceptre with cross. Pictured in 1952 before the Queen’s coronation in 1953.
Orb
The orb is a symbol of the globe, divided into the three continents known of in England in Medieval times and representing worldly and Christian power.
Image: The sovereign’s orb Pic: Royal Collection Trust/His Majesty King Charles III 2023
Sovereign’s ring
The sovereign’s ring features rubies set in the shape of a St George’s cross on top of a sapphire.
Image: The sovereign’s ring. Pic: Royal Collection Trust
The ring symbolises dignity, faith and the monarch’s commitment to their people and the church.
Two children and a woman have died in a shooting in County Fermanagh, police have said.
Two people were killed in the shooting on Wednesday morning, and a third, who was seriously injured, died in hospital in the afternoon.
A fourth person, a man, was seriously injured in the shooting in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland.
All victims were from the same household, Superintendent Robert McGowan, district commander for Fermanagh and Omagh, said at a news conference.
Police have cordoned off the scene in the village of Maguiresbridge, about 75 miles (120km) southwest of Belfast.
“We can advise there is no ongoing risk to the public,” a Police Service of Northern Ireland spokesperson said.
There was no mention of a motive behind the shooting.
Image: The scene in the Drummeer Road area of Maguiresbridge, Co Fermanagh. Pic: Oliver McVeigh /PA Wir
A murder investigation has been launched, with enquiries being at an early stage.
Supt McGowan said at the news conference that police don’t anticipate any arrests being made at this stage.
Emergency services were called to the Drummeer Road area of the village at around 8am on Wednesday following a report raised from the property, Supt McGowan said.
Two people were found dead at the scene, and two others seriously injured.
One patient was taken to the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast, by air ambulance and the other to South West Acute Hospital by ambulance. Supt McGowan said the third person died at the South West Acute Hospital.
Drummeer Road is currently closed, police said, warning that this could lead to delays on alternative roads.
Image: Drummeer Road has been cordoned off. Pic: Oliver McVeigh /PA Wir
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Hilary Benn said: “The news from Maguiresbridge is tragic and deeply distressing.
“My thoughts are with the victims, their relatives and the local community in Fermanagh. I would urge the public not to speculate and to allow the PSNI to continue their investigation.”
Sinn Fein MP Pat Cullen has expressed her deep shock over the shooting, saying: “Firstly, my thoughts are with the victims and their families at this tragic time.”
DUP MLA Deborah Erskine, who represents the area in the Northern Ireland Assembly, said that the community was “stunned” by the shooting in “a rural, quiet area”.
“Everyone is deeply affected by what has happened this morning,” she said.
Five “violent” and “dangerous” gang members have been found guilty of murdering a boy and a young man at a music video shoot in a north London estate.
The men had gone to the Elthorne Estate in Archway “with the intention of killing anyone they could”, the Metropolitan Police said.
And the group mistook those they attacked for rival gang members.
Lorik Lupqi, 21; Jason Furtado, 28; Abel Chunda, 29; Xavier Poponne, 22; and Eden Clark, 31, were convicted of murdering 15-year-old Leonardo Reid and 23-year-old Klevi Shekaj and attempting to murder 28-year-old Abdullah Abdullahi.
Image: (L-R) Xavier Poponne, Lorik Lupqi and Abel Chunda. Pic: Met Police
Leonardo and Mr Shekaj were fatally stabbed and Mr Abdullahi was badly hurt when knifemen descended on the event on the night of 29 June 2023.
Leonardo and his brother had been watching a music video being filmed with friends.
Police said Lupqi, a gang member from Islington, saw the gathering at around 8.30pm and took it as an opportunity to hurt those he thought were gang opponents.
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He messaged his girlfriend stating that “opps were outside”. She advised him to remain inside, but Lupqi decided to contact his close friend and gang associate Jason Furtado.
They formed a plan and recruited gang members Chunda, Clark and Poponne to travel to the estate.
Lupqi had booked a taxi to pick up the three men from the area of Furtado’s home address in Canonbury, north London, telling the cab firm: “I’m in a little bit of a rush,” the jury heard.
They had worn masks and were armed as they went to the Elthorne Estate where they met Lupqi, the court was told.
Image: (L-R) Jason Furtado and Eden Clark. Pic: Met Police/PA
By the time they arrived, the filming had ended, and most people had left, but some local children and teenagers remained in the area.
The group then carried out their deadly attack.
The alarm was raised as a black-clad figure wearing a balaclava was spotted crouching down and moving towards Leonardo, his brother and others, with a large knife.
Three more males in black stood up from where they had been hiding behind cars as they edged towards the group, the court was told.
Leonardo was stabbed in the chest, with the wound cutting through his left lung and one of the major blood vessels in his body, causing fatal blood loss.
Leonardo’s brother had run away from the scene but later looped back and saw his sibling lying motionless on the ground, the court heard.
Mr Shekaj was stabbed in the back, with the wound cutting through his left lung and deep into his body.
He was driven to Whittington Hospital by members of the public but he died on arrival.
Detective Inspector Jim Barry said: “These violent men went into this estate with the intention of killing anyone they could, under the false impression that those there were rival gang members.
“This was a senseless, violent act which has shattered the lives of so many, especially Leonardo and Klevi’s loved ones.
“This dangerous group of men will now spend a long time behind bars but the effect of what they did will be felt by the victim’s shattered families for longer.”
The five killers will appear at the same court on 25 and 26 September for sentencing.
Two traders jailed for rigging benchmark interest rates have had their convictions overturned by the Supreme Court.
Tom Hayes, 45, was handed a 14-year jail sentence – cut to 11 years on appeal – in 2015, which was one of the toughest ever to be imposed for white-collar crime in UK history.
The former Citigroup and UBS trader, along with Carlo Palombo, 46, who was jailed for four years in 2019 over rigging the Euribor interest rates, took their cases to the country’s highest court after the Court of Appeal dismissed their appeals last year.
The Supreme Court unanimously allowed Mr Hayes’ appeal, overturning his 2015 conviction of eight counts of conspiracy to defraud by manipulating Libor, a now-defunct benchmark interest rate.
Image: Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo celebrate after their convictions were overturned. Pic: Reuters
Ex-vice president of euro rates at Barclays bank Mr Palombo’s conviction for conspiring with others to submit false or misleading Euribor submissions between 2005 and 2009 was also quashed.
Mr Hayes, who served five and a half years in prison before being released on licence in 2021, described the “incredible feeling” after the ruling.
“My faith in the criminal justice system at times was likely destroyed and it has been restored by the justices from the Supreme Court today and I think it’s only right that more criminal appeals should be heard at this level,” he said.
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Image: Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo outside the Supreme Court. Pic: Reuters
Both he and Mr Palombo have been described as “scapegoats” for the 2008 financial crisis, but Mr Hayes said: “We literally had nothing to do with it.”
A spokesperson for the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), which opposed the appeals, said it would not be seeking a retrial.
In 2012, the SFO began criminal investigations into traders it suspected of manipulating the Libor and Euribor benchmark interest rates.
Image: Former trader Tom Hayes. Pic: PA
Mr Hayes was the first person to be prosecuted by the SFO, which brought prosecutions against 20 people between 2013 and 2019, seven of whom were convicted at trial, two pleaded guilty and 11 were acquitted.
He had also been facing criminal charges in the US but these were dismissed after two other men involved in a similar case had their convictions reversed in 2022.
Mr Hayes, a gifted mathematician who is autistic, was described at his Southwark Crown Court trial as the “ringmaster” at the centre of an enormous fraud to manipulate benchmark interest rates and boost his own six-figure earnings.
He has always maintained that the Libor rates he requested fell within a permissible range and that his conduct was common at the time and condoned by bosses.
Mr Hayes and Mr Palombo argued their convictions depended on a definition of Libor and Euribor which assumes there is an absolute legal bar on a bank’s commercial interests being taken into account when setting rates.
The panel of five Supreme Court justices found there was “ample evidence” for a jury to convict the two men if it had been properly directed.
But in an 82-page judgment, Lord Leggatt said jury direction errors made both convictions unsafe, adding: “That misdirection undermined the fairness of the trial.”
Lawyers representing Mr Hayes and Mr Palombo said the ruling could open the door for the seven others found guilty to have their convictions overturned and that there were grounds for a public inquiry.