King Charles III is being crowned Saturday at Westminster Abbey, in a ceremony built on ancient traditions, at a time when the monarchy faces an uncertain future, AP reports.
More than 2,000 guests, thousands of troops, tens of thousands of spectators and a smattering of protesters converged in and around the abbey as the king traveled from Buckingham Palace in a gilt-trimmed, horse-drawn carriage.
It was the final mile of a seven-decade journey for Charles from heir to monarch.
The ceremony will be filled with pomp and pageantry: There will be crowns and diamonds, soaring music, purple robes, magnificent hats — and a rousing cheer of “God Save the King” inside the abbey and in the streets outside.
Thousands of people from across the U.K. and around the world camped overnight along a 1.3-mile (2-kilometer) route. The crowds grew during morning, in intermittent rain, along the route, which the newly crowned king and Queen Camilla will take back to the palace, this time in a 261-year-old gilded carriage accompanied by 4,000 troops, forming Britain’s biggest military parade in 70 years.
To the royal family and government, the occasion — code-named Operation Golden Orb — is a display of heritage, tradition and spectacle unmatched around the world.
