A complete guide to how King Charles III's coronation day will unfold and what to expect
ITV News Correspondent John Ray sets out what we can expect to see on the day of the coronation
Millions of people across the UK and internationally are getting ready to celebrate the coronation of King Charles III in what is expected to be a symbolic ceremony of religious unity, tradition, and pageantry.
Charles and his wife, Camilla, the Queen Consort, will be crowned in the first coronation ceremony the nation has seen in more than 70 years.
It is being held at Westminster Abbey on May 6 and is set to be a momentous day, as the nation witnesses Charles becoming the 40th reigning monarch to be crowned there since 1066.
For full updates on the coronation throughout the day, click here
Here are the key timings and what to expect on the big day.
An early start
The formal celebrations on Saturday will begin with a procession from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey with viewing areas along the route opening at 6am.
Public access to sites along The Mall and Whitehall will be on a first-come, first-served basis.
Members of the public will be directed to official screening sites in Hyde Park, Green Park, and St James's Park once they are full.
The King's procession will set off from Buckingham Palace and arrive at Westminster Abbey
Stands for invited guests, including armed forces' veterans, and NHS staff, have been built outside Buckingham Palace.
More than 850 community and charity representatives from across the UK have been invited to the King’s coronation.
Some 400 young people representing charities will also be able to watch the coronation service and procession from the adjacent St Margaret’s Church.
The doors of Westminster Abbey will open at around 7.30am, when the general congregation will begin to arrive and take their place.
Peers and MPs will begin to line up to view the procession, while overseas government representatives, including heads of state, and former UK prime ministers, will start to arrive at the Abbey around 9.30am.
Some of those expected to be among the 2,300 guests include US first lady Jill Biden, French president Emmanuel Macron, Chinese vice-president Han Zheng, Sinn Fein’s leader in Northern Ireland Michelle O’Neill, Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese and Pakistani prime minister Shehbaz Sharif.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and First Ministers of devolved nations are due to arrive at the Abbey some time after, followed by former PMs, and foreign royals.
The procession begins
The King will set off from Buckingham Palace 10.20am, moving along The Mall to Trafalgar Square.
From there the procession will travel down Whitehall and Parliament Street, before turning into Parliament Square and Broad Sanctuary to reach the Great West Door of Westminster Abbey at 10.53am to a fanfare by The State Trumpeters of the Household Cavalry.
In a break from tradition, the King and Queen Consort will travel in the Diamond Jubilee State Coach, which features such modern comforts as air conditioning and suspension, in lieu of the older and notoriously rocky Gold State Coach.
However, Charles and Camilla will make their return in the older coach.
Meanwhile, members of the Royal Family will begin arriving by car at the Abbey from 10.35am onwards.
The Duke of Sussex will be among those to arrive but his wife, the Duchess of Sussex, and their children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, who have remained in California, will not be in attendance.
Prince Harry will be joined by the Princess Royal, the Duke of York, and his daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, with their husbands, Prince Edward, the Duke of Edinburgh, and Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh, Zara Phillips and her husband Mike Tindall, and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester - among others.
The Prince and Princess of Wales and their children - Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis - will also arrive around this time.
The procession is expected to arrive at the abbey shortly before 11am, where King Charles will enter through the Great West Door.
The King, who is expected to be dressed in robes of crimson and purple silk with his military uniform underneath, will then proceed through the nave until he reaches the central space in the abbey.
Westminster Abbey arrival
The service will begin at 11am and will last for two hours, with the key moment coming at midday when the King is crowned.
There are several stages to the service, which is expected to last a little under two hours.
This will include Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who will also give a reading later in the service.
The ceremony begins
The ceremony will include music selected by the King himself, with 12 newly commissioned pieces, including one by Andrew Lloyd Webber.
The regalia - the symbols of royalty like the crown, orb and sceptres - the Bible, paten, and chalice will be placed on the altar until needed in the ceremony.
Nine-year-old Prince George will become the youngest future king to play an official role at a coronation after being named one of his grandfather’s four Pages of Honour.
He will be tasked with carrying the King’s robes alongside Lord Oliver Cholmondeley, 13, Nicholas Barclay, 13, and Ralph Tollemache, 12, who are all sons of the King’s friends.
King Charles will be presented to "the people" in a tradition dating back to Anglo-Saxon times.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby will make the first declaration and the congregation will shout "God Save the King!" and trumpets will sound.
This will be followed by further declarations by, for the first time, the Lady of the Garter and the Lady of the Thistle, and a George Cross holder from the armed forces.
The Coronation Oath
Just before the oath, the Archbishop of Canterbury will acknowledge the multiple faiths observed in the UK by saying the Church of England "will seek to foster an environment in which people of all faiths may live freely".
What the regalia - the symbols of royalty like the crown, orb and sceptres - used in the ceremony means and it will be used
Archbishop Welby will then administer the Coronation Oath and ask King Charles to confirm that he will uphold the law and the Church of England during his reign.
The King will then place his hand on the Holy Gospel and pledge to "perform and keep" those promises.
He will also take a second oath - the Accession Declaration Oath - stating that he is a "faithful Protestant".
The anointing and the crowning
The King will be anointed - and then crowned - on the Coronation Chair, also known as St Edward's Chair or King Edward's Chair.
It was originally made to enclose the Stone of Destiny, which is an ancient symbol of the Scottish monarchy.
Charles will have arrived at the Abbey in his grandfather King George VI’s crimson red Robe of State which he will remove for his anointing when he will be consecrated in holy oil while wearing a simple white shirt.
The archbishop will pour special oil from the Ampulla - which is a gold flask - on to the Coronation Spoon before anointing the King in the form of a cross on his head, breast and hands.
A screen will be arranged around the chair to conceal the King from view, as this is considered to be the most sacred part of the service.
The order of the garments the King will wear at his coronation are: The Robe of State, a simple white linen shirt for the anointing, the Colobium Sindonis, the Supertunica, Coronation Sword Belt, Stole Royal and Imperial Mantle (Robe Royal), and the Robe of Estate.
William will help clothe his father in his golden robe, also known as the mantle, ahead of his crowning.
The King will be given a golden coat to wear, called the Supertunica, and he will be presented with items including the Sovereign's Orb, the Coronation Ring, the Sovereign's Sceptre with Cross, and the Sovereign's Sceptre with Dove.
William will also kneel before his father and vow to be his “liege man of life and limb”. This will be the only homage of royal blood of the ceremony.
At 12pm the Archbishop of Canterbury will place the St Edward’s Crown on Charles’s head and the Westminster Abbey bells will ring for two minutes.
Trumpets will sound and gun salutes will be fired across the UK. A 62-round salute will be fired at the Tower of London, with a six-gun salvo at Horse Guards Parade.
Twenty-one rounds will be fired at a further 11 locations around the UK, including Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, and on deployed Royal Navy ships.
Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby defended the Homage of the People
The final part of the ceremony will see the King take the throne.
Traditionally, a succession of royals and peers would then have paid homage by kneeling before the new king, swearing allegiance and kissing his right hand.
The service will instead include the first Homage of the People - a modern addition to the ancient ceremony that will see people across the UK and overseas realms invited to swear an oath of allegiance to Charles.
The crowning of the Queen Consort
Following the homage of the people, Queen Camilla will be anointed, crowned and enthroned.
This will be a much simpler ceremony, where she will be crowned with Queen Mary's Crown and she will not have to take an oath.
The final part of the service will see the King and Queen taking Holy Communion - the principal act of worship of the Christian church.
The historic celebration doesn't just crown King Charles - but also his wife, Camilla. ITV News' Rachel Younger reports
What happens next?
At the end of the entire service, the King will take off the priestly robes and change into George VI’s purple Robe of Estate for his departure from the Abbey.
The newly crowned King and Queen will embark on their coronation procession back to Buckingham Palace in the Gold State Coach.
The Prince and Princess of Wales will be joined by their three children, Princes George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis, in a carriage behind the King's.
The procession will travel via the tried and tested route of Parliament Square, along Whitehall, around Trafalgar Square, through Admiralty Arch, and down The Mall, arriving back at Buckingham Palace at 1.33pm.
The King’s Coronation Procession stretches to just 1.3 miles – around a quarter of the length of the late Queen’s five-mile celebratory journey.
Thousands of members of the armed forces will take part on the day of the coronation – the largest military ceremonial operation for 70 years – staging gun salutes and a flypast, and parading in the processions.
Charles and Camilla will receive a royal salute from the military in the palace gardens at 1.45pm.
This will be followed by a balcony moment when the couple will be joined by other members of the royal family who will begin to assemble to watch a flypast.
The flypast is expected to take place between 2.30-2.36pm.
How to watch the coronation coverage
More than 57 locations across the UK will have big screens enabling more than 100,000 people to watch the events in their home towns, according to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).
For those who do not plan on venturing out for the celebrations, they can watch it all on television from the comfort of their sofa.
ITV News' Julie Etchingham and Tom Bradby will front ITV’s live coverage from 9.30am.
Presenters Mary Nightingale, Nina Hossain, Charlene White will also be stationed at key locations during the six hour-plus broadcast, which will also be available to watch live on ITVX.
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