THE HISTORY OF CORONATION CEREMONIES

As the nation prepares to celebrate the first coronation for 70 years, Harry Verity takes a look at Charles III's decades-long path to the Abbey

When King Charles III and Queen (Consort) Camilla procession through London on the way

to Westminster Abbey in the Gold State Coach to renditions of Handel’s "Zadok the Priest", it will mark the culmination of decades of behind-the-scenes, meticulous planning.

For Charles, the first monarch to ascend to the British throne in the 21st century, the coronation has presented a unique series of delicate roadblocks that have taken decades to overcome.

The Great Transition

While we are long past the days when the country would go to war over rival claimants to the throne, Charles’ accession after 70 years still provoked tensions. Fears about his outspoken political views on environmentalism, his short fuse, or the failure of the British people to accept his wife as Queen were all very real challenges in the days following the late Queen Elizbeth’s death in September.

Mindful of this, for at least the last quarter of a century, extensive planning and a savvy PR operation have been underway, to ensure the coronation is the ceremonial high point of his accession, drawing a line under all of these issues and bringing the country together in celebration.

Operation Golden Orb

The plans for Charles’ coronation are known by the codename Golden Orb. They are overseen by a committee chaired by Earl Marshall—the Duke of Norfolk. It is thought insensitive to discuss the coronation during the reign of a predecessor. However, the name of the committee was leaked in a government document in 2016, when it was left unredacted.