The royal family of the United Kingdom revealed new details about King Charles III’s coronation next month on Sunday, including a new Twitter emoji based on the crown the monarch will wear at the historic ceremony.
Charles, 74, ascended to the throne immediately after Queen Elizabeth II died last September after a record-breaking 70-year reign, but will be formally crowned at a service inside London’s Westminster Abbey on May 6.
In addition to the traditional royal processions associated with the coronation, the three-day weekend will include a star-studded concert, a nationwide “big lunch,” and volunteer initiatives.
Buckingham Palace revealed a slew of ceremonial details, including the new emoji created to commemorate the historic occasion, which is based on the 17th-century St Edward’s Crown.
The centerpiece of Britain’s famous Crown Jewels, which was worn by Charles’ late mother at her coronation in 1953, has been redesigned for him to wear seven decades later.
When various hashtags, such as #Coronation, #CoronationBigLunch, and #TheBigHelpOut, are used on Twitter, the motif will appear.
A special emoji for the Coronation has gone live today! The emoji, based on St Edward’s Crown, will appear when any of the following hashtags are used: #Coronation#CoronationConcert#TheBigHelpout#CoronationWeekend#CoronationBigLunch pic.twitter.com/ueHOpkNn6M
— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) April 9, 2023
It comes after royal social media channels used a crown-wearing corgi emoji named PJ to commemorate Elizabeth’s platinum jubilee last year – just three months before her death at the age of 96.
Corgis were the late Queen Elizabeth II’s favorite dog breed.
Scaled-down service
The latest coronation plans, which will also see Charles’ wife Camilla crowned queen consort, confirm that the ceremony will be less elaborate than the one held in 1953.
On their way back to Buckingham Palace, the royal couple will take a shorter procession route and break with tradition by only using the elaborate 260-year-old Gold State Coach.
The King’s Procession is a 1.3-mile (2.1-kilometer) outward journey from the palace in the more modern, comfortable Diamond Jubilee State Coach.
It is equipped with shock absorbers, heating, and air conditioning.
The service will begin at 11:00 a.m. (10:00 a.m. GMT) and is expected to be much shorter than the one held in 1953, which lasted nearly three hours.
The palace also confirmed that an orb, swords, and scepters will be among the priceless regalia from the Crown Jewels to be used during the hour-long ceremony.
Over 850 community and charity representatives from across the UK were invited to the service, which will also be attended by foreign royals, leaders, and heads of state, it was revealed on Friday.
They include 450 recipients of the British Empire Medal, which is awarded for achievement or contribution to community service, as well as 400 young people representing charitable organizations.
