The British coronation ceremony, during which the sovereign is crowned as the reigning monarch, is an occasion for pomp and circumstance.
But it is also a solemn religious ceremony and one that has stayed basically unchanged for more than thousand years.
Here are some little-known facts about the ceremony:
1. Westminster Abbey has held every coronation since 1066.
Before the Abbey, they would be held at whichever location was most convenient, including Bath, Oxford and Canterbury. However the religious ceremony has remained largely unchanged for more than 1,000 years.
2. King Charles will be the 40th sovereign crowned at Westminster Abbey.
The coronation does not mark the moment a new monarch is anointed. There is never a moment when there is no monarch. In fact, upon a king or queen’s death, their heir immediately becomes the new succeeding monarch.
The Accession Council meets within days at St. James’ Palace to legally confirm the new monarch. Public proclamations are made in various locations across the country. This would have been the way the news about a monarch was spread in centuries past.
3. More than 2,000 guests will be invited to the coronation, a total slightly under the capacity of Westminster Abbey. This is in contrast to the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, which had four times the amount, who were accommodated in special seating.
4. The coronation, which will be funded by the U.K. government, is expected to be less extravagant than in the past. The Queen’s coronation is estimated to have cost £1.57 million (CAD$2.63 million) in 1953, the equivalent of £46 million (CAD $77.13 million) today.
5. Planning for the King’s coronation had been underway for years under the secret code name Operation Golden Orb. As part of the ceremony, the King will be invested with the regalia of the sovereign’s gold orb and jewel-encrusted sceptres.
6. The coronation emblem incorporates the flora of the four nations of the United Kingdom. The flora includesthe rose of England, the thistle of Scotland, the daffodil of Wales and the shamrock of Northern Ireland. Together the images make up the shape of St. Edward’s Crown.
7. The coronation ceremony includes the anointing of the new monarch. The anointing oil has been perfumed with the essential oils of sesame, rose, jasmine, cinnamon, neroli, benzoin and amber and orange blossom.
The oil, consecrated in Jerusalem, was produced from olives that grew from groves on the Mount of Olives, at the Monastery of the Ascension and the Monastery of Mary Magdalene, the burial place of Charles' grandmother Princess Alice of Greece.
He was the first child to see his mother’s coronation as Sovereign. Princess Anne was too young and did not attend. It’s unclear if all of his grandchildren will attend the coronation; however, it's confirmed that Prince George will be there.
The crown weighs 4 pounds and 12 ounces and is made of solid gold. Historically used at the moment of coronation, the crown was quietly removed from the Tower of London in December to be resized for the King in time for his coronation. It was initially made for Charles II’s coronation to replace the medieval crown parliamentarians melted in 1649 after King Charles I was executed.
The crown jewels are kept at the Tower of London in the Jewel House under armed guard. They’re held in trust by the king and queen for the nation and passed on to the next monarch upon their accession.
10. The coronation oath is the only aspect of the ceremony that’s mandated by law. In the oath, the monarch will pledge to govern the peoples of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth realms. However, the oath’s wording has evolved over the years to reflect territorial changes and the King’s oath may be different than his mother’s.
11. Coronation Chicken, now a well-known filling for sandwiches, was invented for foreign guests attending the Queen’s ceremony. Florist Constance Spry is credited with coming up with the recipe for the cold chicken in a curry cream sauce with a dressed salad of rice, green peas, and mixed herbs and since become known as Coronation Chicken.
The 2024 wildfire season has begun, and it's shaping up to follow last year's unprecedented destruction in kind, with thousands of square kilometres already consumed.
A British Columbia Supreme Court judge has sentenced the mother and stepfather of a six-year-old boy who died from blunt-force trauma in 2018 to 15 years in prison.
Veteran TSN broadcaster Darren 'Dutch' Dutchyshen, one of Canada’s best-known sports journalists, has died. He was 57. His family says 'he passed as he was surrounded by his closest loved ones.'
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau assailed New Brunswick's premier and other conservative leaders on Thursday, calling out the provincial government's position on abortion, LGBTQ youth and climate change.
The Speaker of the Saskatchewan Legislature Randy Weekes has severed ties with the Sask. Party after accusing some members of harassment and intimidation tactics, including a situation he claimed saw the Government House Leader bring a hunting rifle to the legislative building.
Quebec's Crown prosecution office said it will not lay charges against a Montreal imam following comments he made at a pro-Palestinian rally last fall.
The Ottawa Police Service says its hate crime unit is investigating a reported hijab-pulling incident at Tuesday's protest at Ottawa City Hall when the Israeli flag was raised for the country's independence day.
A judge has rejected a B.C. man's claim that his genitals "accidentally" fell out of his shorts – twice – at a Surrey mall, finding him guilty of indecent exposure.
A British Columbia Supreme Court judge has sentenced the mother and stepfather of a six-year-old boy who died from blunt-force trauma in 2018 to 15 years in prison.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued a full pardon Thursday for a former U.S. Army sergeant convicted of murder for fatally shooting an armed demonstrator in 2020 during nationwide protests against police violence and racial injustice.
Slovak authorities charged a man Thursday with attempting to assassinate Prime Minister Robert Fico, saying he acted alone in a politically motivated attack.
An Air Force instructor pilot was killed when the ejection seat activated while the jet was still on the ground at a Texas military base, the Air Force said Tuesday.
Early estimates indicate up to 2,000 gallons of oil may have spilled into surrounding waters when a barge carrying fuel broke free from a tugboat and slammed into a bridge near Galveston, Texas, the U.S. Coast Guard said Thursday.
The influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un again denied Friday that her country has exported any weapons to Russia, as she labeled outside speculation on North Korea-Russian arms dealings as “the most absurd paradox.”
A former top official in Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont's budget office allegedly extorted private contractors into paying him thousands of dollars in bribes as he oversaw large blocks of state money for school construction projects, federal authorities said Thursday.
To give Canadians a break on their summer road trips, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to suspend all gas and diesel taxes from Victoria Day to Labour Day.
Canada on Thursday imposed its first-ever sanctions on what the foreign ministry called 'extremist' Israeli settlers in the West Bank, and said Ottawa was weighing additional measures to deter settler violence against Palestinians.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau assailed New Brunswick's premier and other conservative leaders on Thursday, calling out the provincial government's position on abortion, LGBTQ youth and climate change.
The province’s health minister and solicitor general are urging Toronto to rescind its request to decriminalize simple possession of small amounts of drugs for personal use, calling the proposal 'misguided' and 'disastrous.'
Southern British Columbians may see smoky skies from wildfires burning in the northeastern part of the province over the weekend and one local doctor is warning of the potential long-term health risks associated with that poor air quality.
Countless people seek emergency care for back pain, muscle strains and similar injuries resulting from “moving wrong” during mundane, everyday tasks such as bending over to tie shoes, lifting objects or doing household chores.
What is big, with a fluffy, cotton candy-like composition? Turns out, a planet. An international coalition of astronomers has newly discovered an unusual planet, dubbed WASP-193b, that’s about 50 per cent bigger than Jupiter and somehow still the second lightest planet ever found.
There’s no point asking Marisa Abela to sing Amy Winehouse songs at karaoke. Her friends have already tried and failed. But you can see her sing — and become — Winehouse in the new film “Back to Black,” which opens in the U.S. on Friday.
Just after Lainey Wilson lit up the stage with a cover of Little Texas’ “God Blessed Texas” into her new single, “Hang Tight Honey," Clay Walker and Randy Travis presented Jordan Davis with song of the year at the 2024 Academy of Country Music Awards for his ubiquitous country radio hit “Next Thing You Know.”
Savannah Gankiewicz of Hawaii was crowned Miss USA 2023 on Wednesday, more than a week after the previous titleholder resigned citing her mental health.
Canada's telecom and television complaints watchdog says many telecom providers aren't following complaints section rules on their websites, and it's particularly concerned about some repeat offenders.
A key Boeing supplier that makes the fuselages for its popular 737 Max airplanes is laying off about 450 workers because production has slowed down ever since a panel flew off one of those airplanes operated by Alaska Airlines in midair in January.
A Starbucks fan — whose name is Winter — is visiting Canada on a purposeful journey that began with a random idea at one of the coffee chain's stores in Texas.
Airplane overhead compartments. Home to luggage of all shapes and sizes, the odd coat or two, several duty-free bags, a fair bit of dust and… passengers?
Xander Schauffele broke the PGA Championship scoring record, seizing on the rain-softened conditions at Valhalla on Thursday with a 9-under 62 to set the early target.
A burgeoning track star says his dream of going to the Olympics is being derailed by a deportation order after Immigration officials rejected his family’s claim for asylum
Auto technology has evolved and many newer cars use wireless key fobs and push-button starters instead of traditional metal keys. But that technology also makes things easier for thieves.
A Starbucks fan — whose name is Winter — is visiting Canada on a purposeful journey that began with a random idea at one of the coffee chain's stores in Texas.
Members of Piapot First Nation, students from the University of Winnipeg and various other professionals are learning new techniques that will hopefully be used for ground searches of potential unmarked grave sites in the future.
Two daughters and a mother were reunited online 40 years later thanks to a DNA kit and a Zoom connection despite living on three separate continents and speaking different languages.
A British Columbia Supreme Court judge has sentenced the mother and stepfather of a six-year-old boy who died from blunt-force trauma in 2018 to 15 years in prison.
Five months after a coroner's inquest into the death of a mentally ill man at an Ontario jail, his family said Thursday the province has failed to implement any of the dozens of recommendations aimed at preventing similar deaths in the future.
A ‘lifetime of abuse’ led Dallas Ly to snap and repeatedly stab his mother inside their Leslieville apartment in 2022 but he never intended to kill her, his defence lawyers argued during his murder trial in Toronto on Thursday.
Ontario’s so-called 'Crypto King' Aiden Pleterski was soliciting new investors as recently as February – a year-and-a-half after he was petitioned into bankruptcy for allegedly running a Ponzi scheme worth more than $40 million – police alleged on Thursday.
Smoke and flames could be seen from kilometres away, prompting numerous 911 calls after a blaze broke out on the eastern edge of Calgary near Glenmore Trail and Stoney Trail S.E.
As a housing crisis continues in Calgary, the city is looking to strike a balance between increasing density – both in established neighbourhoods and in new ones.
More reaction is coming from parents as the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board looks to make major adjustments to its elementary programs including French immersion and how it is delivered.
It's been a rocky start to the $10-a-day daycare program in Ontario. There still aren't enough spots and many daycares are short funding and say they may opt-out all together.
The Ottawa Fire Service says firefighters responded to a call for a fire on Tall Oak Private, near the Ottawa Hospital General Campus, at approximately 9:30 a.m.
A Montreal father who kidnapped his daughter who has autism and lied to police when they asked where she was should serve three years in prison, a Crown prosecutor said.
Quebec's Crown prosecution office said it will not lay charges against a Montreal imam following comments he made at a pro-Palestinian rally last fall.
The Edmonton Police Commission heard on Thursday from almost a dozen angry speakers demanding police accountability after the teardown of a protest encampment from the University of Alberta.
A growing trend of century-old churches being closed, sold and/or demolished in the Maritimes is a sad reality many parishioners are starting to get used to.
Saskatchewan teachers have voted heavily in favour of a new mandate that allows job action to continue until an agreement with the province is reached.
The Speaker of the Saskatchewan Legislature Randy Weekes has severed ties with the Sask. Party after accusing some members of harassment and intimidation tactics, including a situation he claimed saw the Government House Leader bring a hunting rifle to the legislative building.
Saskatchewan teachers have voted heavily in favour of a new mandate that allows job action to continue until an agreement with the province is reached.
A legal clinic from southern Ontario is reminding Timmins city council that it’s “unlawful” in Ontario to evict people from homeless encampments on public property.
Repairing the scales at Sudbury’s main landfill site on The Kingsway is causing delays and long lineups for residents and businesses using the site to dispose of waste and trimmings.
Six months after being found guilty of a fatal hit and run in 2018 that claimed the life of Dominik Adamek in Springwater Township, Maimuna Baldeh heard from his grieving family, who told the court about the pain they've endured since that day.
Many people turned out to the RecPlex in Wasaga Beach on Thursday night as the mayor and councillors opened a dialogue amidst multiple momentous decisions they've made in recent months.
The Windsor Essex Child/Youth Advocacy Centre (WECYAC) is calling on the community to learn more about local services as part of Victims and Survivors of Crime Week 2024.
A British Columbia Supreme Court judge has sentenced the mother and stepfather of a six-year-old boy who died from blunt-force trauma in 2018 to 15 years in prison.
Premier David Eby delivered an election-style speech to his New Democrat caucus, warning of the potential merger between the opposition BC United and B.C. Conservative parties, saying the fall election is shaping up to be the "starkest choice in a generation."
A nurse in Metro Vancouver has been suspended for two weeks and ordered to take remedial education after she accessed the personal health records of several people for no work-related purpose.
After four targeted shootings in four days, Mounties in Kamloops are taking the unusual step of warning the public about two men they believe are likely to be targeted in future violent incidents.
With no active wildland fires burning in northern Ontario, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry sent 10 crews to Manitoba to help battle the blazes there.
A new study shows an Atlantic salmon population in southern Newfoundland is disappearing, and it says nearby aquaculture operations are a likely contributor to the decline.