The Coronation of Their Majesties The King and Queen has ended at the royal church of Westminster Abbey in centre London, United Kingdom (UK).
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports the Coronation Service ended at about 1 PM with the singing of the National Anthem.
The Coronation Service was conducted by the Most Reverend and Right Honourable Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury, who was supported by the Dean of Westminster, the Very Reverend Dr David Hoyle.
The service was sung by the Choirs of Westminster Abbey and His Majesty’s Chapel Royal, St James’s Palace, together with girl choristers from the Chapel Choir of Methodist College, Belfast, and from Truro Cathedral Choir.
They sang under the direction of Andrew Nethsingha, Westminster Abbey’s Organist and Master of the Choristers, who oversaw all the musical arrangements for the service.
Following processions of faith and ecumenical leaders and representatives from His Majesty’s Realms, Their Majesties will arrive at the Abbey in the State Carriage and will be greeted by the Dean and the Archbishop.
As the procession of The King and Queen moved through the Abbey, the Choir sang I was glad, in Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry’s celebrated setting of words from Psalm 122 which have been sung at the entrance of the monarch at every coronation since that of Charles I in 1626. The anthem included the traditional cry of ‘Vivat Rex!’ (Long Live the King!), proclaimed by The King’s Scholars of Westminster School.
Before the Archbishop of Canterbury gave the Greeting and Introduction, one of the youngest members of the congregation, 14-year-old Samuel Strachan, a chorister of His Majesty’s Chapel Royal, addressed The King, saying: “Your Majesty, as children of the kingdom of God we welcome you in the name of the King of kings’. The King will reply: ‘In his name and after his example I come not to service but to serve”.
Following a pattern which has remained largely unchanged through the centuries, the Coronation Rite began with the Recognition, when the congregation acclaimed the Sovereign with a cry of “God Save King Charles”.
Afterwards, The King took the Coronation Oaths, swearing on the Bible to govern the peoples with justice and mercy, and to uphold the Churches established by law in the United Kingdom.
Then, for the first time at a coronation, The King prayed publicly, for grace to be “a blessing to all… of every faith and belief” and to serve after the pattern of Christ.
Following the sermon, preached by the Archbishop, the ancient hymn Veni Creator Spiritus was sung to a new setting, in languages from across the United Kingdom, calling on the Holy Spirit just before the most sacred part of the Coronation rite: the anointing with holy oil that marks The King as chosen and set apart by God.
A screen shielded The King from view as he sat in the ancient Coronation Chair, which was placed on the Cosmati Pavement facing the High Altar. During the anointing, the Choir sang Handel’s famous anthem, Zadok the Priest, which draws on words from 1 Kings 1 and was composed for the coronation of George II in 1727. It has been used at every coronation since.
Once anointed, The King was vested in priestly garments that symbolise both humility and splendour.
TNG reports the anointing was followed by the investing, when items of regalia were presented to The King.
These included spurs and armills of the kind worn by medieval knights, and a sword which The King wore first and then offered in the service of God.
Symbols of secular and spiritual power followed: an orb, representing the world under Christ; a sceptre representing earthly power, held in a restrained, gloved hand; and the rod with a dove, representing spiritual authority exercised in mercy.
The King was also presented with a ring symbolising the faithful ‘marriage’ of a monarch to his people.
Those who presented the regalia reflected the cultural and religious diversity of the United Kingdom.
The moment of crowning immediately followed, with the Archbishop blessing St Edward’s Crown, and the Dean carrying it to the Coronation Chair.
As the Archbishop placed the crown on The King’s head, the congregation again cried ‘God Save The King’ as trumpets sounded, the Abbey’s bells rang and gun salutes were fired at the Tower of London.
Wearing St Edward’s Crown and carrying the sceptres, The King moved to sit on a throne in the centre of the Abbey.
After the Homage, The Coronation of The Queen followed that of The King in a similar but simpler ceremony in which she was anointed and crowned and presented with her own items of regalia.
Their Majesties then receive Holy Communion.
TNG reports the service came to a close with the singing of the National Anthem, after which The King received a greeting in unison from the Governors General of the Realms, and from leaders and representatives from the Jewish, Hindu, Sikh, Muslim and Buddhist faiths.
During the Coronation Service the Prime Minister, the Right Honourable Rishi Sunak MP, read Colossians 1: 9-20. The Right Reverend and Right Honourable Dame Sarah Mullally, Bishop of London and Dean of His Majesty’s Chapels Royal, read Luke 4: 16-21, using the sixth-century St Augustine Gospel.