The route the King and Queen Consort will take to the coronation has been revealed – involving two gilded coaches, certainly one of which has air con and shock absorbers.
The different one is uncomfortably suspended on leather-based straps, weighs 4 tonnes, and might transfer solely at strolling tempo, pulled by eight horses.
Charles and Camilla will take the 1.3 mile outbound journey from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey within the Diamond Jubilee State Coach which was first utilized by Queen Elizabeth on the State Opening of Parliament in 2014.
It is the most recent coach within the Royal Mews.
On the way in which again, taking the identical route, they are going to be within the 260-year-old Gold State Coach, which the Queen used each methods for her coronation in 1953, famously describing the bumpy trip as “horrible”.
It is assumed the King and Queen Consort might have chosen to restrict using the older coach as a result of each have suffered from again ache, although the palace declined to remark.
Unlike the Queen at her coronation, they are going to take the identical route each methods.
Accompanied by The Sovereign’s Escort of the Household Cavalry, they are going to journey down The Mall by way of Admiralty Arch, take the south aspect of Trafalgar Square, then go alongside Whitehall and Parliament Street, take the east and south sides of Parliament Square to Broad Sanctuary, earlier than arriving on the Abbey.
The coronation service on Saturday 6 May will start at 11am.
“The carriages chosen reflect the smaller procession to the Abbey and the larger procession back to Buckingham Palace,” a Buckingham Palace spokesperson mentioned.
“They were the personal choice of Their Majesties.”
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The route is a tried and examined one, having been used for a lot of royal events.
Sally Goodsir, curator of ornamental arts on the Royal Collection Trust, mentioned: “The Gold State Coach will be the centrepiece of the much larger procession from Westminster Abbey back to Buckingham Palace on coronation day.
“It weighs 4 tonnes and due to that it might probably solely be used at strolling tempo which actually provides to the majesty and stateliness of this nice royal procession.”
The King’s coronation procession in the Gold State Coach will feature hundreds of members of the Armed Forces from the UK, the Commonwealth and the British Overseas Territories, as well as the Sovereign’s Bodyguard and Royal Watermen.
The late Queen’s outward procession was 1.6 miles lengthy however her return procession was 5 miles, taking her down Piccadilly, alongside Oxford Street and Regent Street and Haymarket.
It took two hours to finish, featured 16,000 contributors and was designed to permit her to be seen by as many individuals as potential.
The coronation regalia from the Crown Jewels that will likely be used throughout her son’s coronation service has additionally been confirmed.
It contains the Sovereign’s Orb, the Golden Spurs, bracelets referred to as Armills, two maces, 5 symbolic swords, the Sovereign’s Ring, the Sovereign’s Sceptre with Cross and the Sovereign’s Sceptre with Dove.
Camilla will likely be topped, as beforehand introduced, with the modified Queen Mary’s Crown, however she will even maintain the Queen Consort’s Rod with Dove – regardless of the controversial rod being created from ivory.
The piece is alleged to symbolise fairness and mercy, and the dove, with its folded wings, represents the Holy Ghost.
Invites to the coronation confirmed Camilla will likely be referred to as Queen Camilla after the occasion, with the consort a part of her title – used to distinguish her from Queen Elizabeth II – being dropped as soon as her husband has been topped King.
Camilla will even maintain the Queen Consort’s Sceptre with Cross, which was initially made for the coronation of Mary of Modena, Queen Consort of James II, in 1685 and is inlaid with rock crystals.
She will obtain the Queen Consort’s Ring – a ruby in a gold setting made for the coronation of King William IV and Queen Adelaide in 1831, and utilized by three additional Queens Consort – Queen Alexandra, Queen Mary, and the Queen Mother.
Charles will likely be topped with the Seventeenth-century St Edward’s Crown which has been resized to suit his head.
The King will change it for the lighter Imperial State Crown on the finish of the ceremony, as is the customized.
As a part of the celebrations, the palace has additionally introduced a brand new emoji – a motif of the St Edward’s Crown.
Source: information.sky.com”