A NEW ROYAL REIGN

AFTER A LIFETIME OF SERVICE, KING CHARLES FINALLY MEETS HIS DESTINY

In a role that he has been primed and prepped for since he was 3 years old, His Majesty King Charles III was finally crowned at Westminster Abbey on May 6 in a glorious ceremony steeped in centuries of royal tradition.

Organisers had said it would be an “unforgettable spectacle” and they certainly delivered, with not even the looming grey clouds and drizzling rain enough to detract from the dazzling success of the Coronation.

In the lead-up, the public’s focus has been spent on the various royal dramas. But behind palace walls, long-time courtiers blocked out the noise and worked diligently to ensure the Coronation went off without a hitch.

The King was crowned by the Church of England’s most senior cleric, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby. “It was very important to Charles to maintain the religious aspect to his Coronation,” an insider reveals. “He takes his role as the new head of the Church of England very seriously.”

Despite aiming to be a modern king, Charles, 74, is also a notorious stickler for protocol, and followed much of his late mother’s lead in many aspects of the Westminster Abbey ceremony. “The Coronation is centred around a solemn religious ceremony that has remained largely unchanged for over 1000 years,” the palace said in a statement on its website.

And this was true right down to the King’s spectacular threads. He entered the centuries-old church wearing the Royal Robe, the same ceremonial robes Queen Elizabeth II wore for her own coronation in 1953. The new monarch also donned the same glove his grandfather, King George VI, wore nearly a century ago.