KING'S SOLEMN VOW TO SERVE US ALL

Millions watching Coronation invited to pledge allegiance

- Jon Coates

KING Charles will make a poignant public pledge to serve all the people at his Coronation on Saturday.

He will declare before guests at the ceremony in Westminster Abbey and a global television audience: "I come not to be served - but to serve." Millions of loyal subjects around the world will then be invited to join together in pledging allegiance to him.

Once called the Homage of the Peers and reserved only for Lords, it is now called the Homage of the People.

In what is set to be the most inclusive and unifying Coronation in history, Charles will also become the first monarch to pray aloud during the two-hour service in a "powerful" new addition to the historic occasion.

Three women bishops and multi-faith leaders will play an active role, with all of the languages of the four home nations included.

And the King will make his solemn public pledge to "serve" after being greeted by 14-year-old Samuel Strachan, the longest-serving chorister of the Choir of His Majesty's Chapel Royal at St James's Palace.

The City of London School pupil, a choir member for four years, will welcome the monarch in the name of the "King of Kings" - a reference to Christ.

Charles will reply: "In His name, and after his example, I come not to be served, but to serve."

The office for the Archbishop of Canterbury said this addition will underline the King's intention to devote himself to the nation "in a life of loving service".

The service will start at 11am with a procession into the Abbey that includes representatives of all the major religions to reflect the multi-faith nature of Britain.

The anthem I Was Glad, a version of Psalm 122, will be proclaimed as Charles and Camilla enter, in keeping with a tradition dating back to at least 1626.

As well as the Homage of the People, other firsts include: