The explosive crescendo of Handel’s soaring anthem “Zadok the Priest,” composed nearly 300 years ago for King George III’s coronation, marked the most sacred moment of Charles’ coronation on Saturday.
Around 2,200 people gathered inside Westminster Abbey, where kings and queens have been crowned since 1066, to see Charles’ robe of state removed before he was shielded and anointed with holy oil, then re-emerging as the choir sang “May the king live forever.”
The congregation loudly repeated the same words at the end of a pledge of allegiance to the new monarch minutes later, with the refrain echoing around the medieval building before a rousing brass fanfare began.
Until the coronation of Charles’ mother, Queen Elizabeth II, in 1953, kings and queens were only seen by those in the abbey.
Elizabeth’s coronation was the first to be televised, and video technology meant that people watching on television and online around the world had better close-up views than almost everyone in attendance.
Yet, for those inside the abbey, elements of the ceremony, which was largely solemn and ritualistic with a few dashes of modernity, remained distinctly intimate.
The music, a mix of centuries-old anthems written for Charles’s forefathers and new works commissioned for the occasion, ranged from unrestrained pomp to quieter choral works that reverberated around the vaulted ceilings of the abbey.
Charles appeared meek at times, as when he knelt before the altar with four members of the clergy surrounding him. William, the king’s son, kissed his father after swearing allegiance to him.
The 74-year-old king appeared tired and strained at times.
Despite this, Charles and Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby shared a snatched smile as the clergyman struggled to ensure the 360-year-old St Edward’s Crown was securely on the king’s head.
Prince George, his 9-year-old grandson, elicited muffled laughter as he was shown on screens pulling funny faces shortly after his grandfather was crowned.
STATE AND CHURCH
In keeping with the king’s commitment to religious freedom, representatives from nine non-Christian faith groups marched through the abbey prior to Charles’ arrival.
The ceremony, however, was deeply Christian, with Charles swearing an oath to serve God as well as the people of Britain and the 14 Commonwealth realms where he is head of state.
He was flanked at all times by senior clergy, and each stage of the service demonstrated how tightly Britain’s monarchy is bound and supported by the Church of England.
“The weight of the task given to you today, your majesties, is only bearable by the Spirit of God,” Welby said in his sermon to Charles and Camilla.
Some historians may wonder if future coronations will maintain the same deep Christian structure as church attendance in the United Kingdom continues to decline.
However, the sense of occasion and historic rituals that few people in Britain had witnessed before – because the last coronation was 70 years ago – were likely to captivate almost all those who watched it.
