The Royal Coronation: A ceremony shaped by religion
What is a coronation?
The coronation isn't just a national celebration. When Charles and his wife Queen Camilla are crowned, the ceremony will also have religious undertones.
Coronations emerged from a European tradition of increasing church involvement in the state, as well as the need to bring stability to often volatile societies in which several individuals had a claim to the throne. Central to the ceremony is the "unction", the act of anointing a monarch with holy oil, the UK Parliament website says.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
At the event, the spectacle will include the golden state coach that's been used at every coronation since 1831. The king will be "invested" with elaborate dress and jewellery including a solid gold crown decorated with rubies. The ceremony will also feature the ancient Stone of Scone, used at Scottish coronations until it was seized by England's Edward I in 1296, to reflect the fact that kings of England are also crowned as kings of Scotland.
Will it be a public holiday?
The celebrations will take place over a weekend, which has been extended to include a Monday public holiday. The government has even passed a law to allow pubs and bars to stay open for longer, the Bloomberg reports.
When did the coronations begin?
Coronations, or presenting the crown, began with Charlemagne in the year 800. It was borrowed from the Bible's second book of Samuel, in which David, ruler of ancient Israel, was given a crown and the bracelet of Saul.
The UK follows almost the same steps since Edgar, one of the first kings of Englamd, who was crowned in 973 in Bath Abbey.
What does the coronation mean?
The coronation exemplifies the binding of the state and the church.
The ceremony will be performed by Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, the most senior figure in the Church of England.
The new sovereign will also receive a holy communion – the most important religious service in the Christian church, in which people share bread and wine as a symbol of the Last Supper and the death of Christ.
The ceremony is to set one human being apart from the rest as the embodiment of both crown and nation by anointing him with holy oil, according to Roy Strong, the author of the definitive history of British coronations.
Bloomberg reports that the religious link is explicit in the king's title: "Charles the Third, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of His other Realms and Territories King, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith." He is also "Supreme Governor of the Church of England," a legacy of Henry VIII's break with the Catholic Church in 1534. Charles is required to make three oaths of allegiance: one related to the Church of Scotland, which he has already done, a second oath to maintain the Protestant succession; and a third, the coronation oath, which includes a promise to protect the Church of England.
