Buckingham Palace has revealed what Brits can expect from King Charles' coronation weekend later this year, from a music concert to street parties.
The coronation celebrations are set to take place from Saturday, May 6 to Monday, May 8, with the UK getting an extra bank holiday for the occasion. The weekend will begin with Charles and Queen Consort Camilla being crowned at Westminster Abbey on Saturday morning, in a ceremony carried out by the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Charles and Camilla will arrive at the Abbey in a procession from Buckingham Palace, known as 'the King's procession', and following the coronation will return to the palace with other members of the Royal Family as part of the ceremonial 'coronation procession'. The palace have said that the coronation ceremony will be "a solemn religious service, as well as an occasion for celebration and pageantry", which will "reflect the monarch’s role today and look towards the future, while being rooted in longstanding traditions".
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Upon their return to Buckingham Palace, the King and Queen Consort will then make an appearance on the balcony alongside other members of the family. It has not yet been confirmed which royals will be joining them on the day, though there is likely to be much speculation over whether Prince Harry and Meghan will be in attendance following the explosive revelations made in the pair's Netflix documentary and Harry's Spare memoir.
On Sunday, a special coronation concert will take place at Windsor Castle featuring "global music icons and contemporary stars", which will be broadcast live on the BBC. Several thousand lucky people will receive a pair of free tickets for the occasion, through a national ballot held by the broadcaster.
According to the palace, the show will feature a world-class orchestra playing versions of music from "some of the world's biggest entertainers, alongside performers from the world of dance", and the Coronation Choir - a group brought together from community choirs and amateur singers from across the country - will appear too. Some spoken word readings will also be delivered by a handful of stars of the stage and screen.
Sunday will also see a special event dubbed 'lighting up the nation', where landmarks across the UK will be lit up using illuminations, drone displays, lasers and projections. Members of the public are also invited to take part in a 'coronation big lunch' organised by the Big Lunch team at the Eden Project, which will see street parties similar to those that took place for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee.
The bank holiday Monday has been named 'the big help out', and Brits have been encouraged to use the extra day to do volunteer work. Organised by The Together Coalition and a wide range of partners such as The Scouts, the Royal Voluntary Service and faith groups from across the UK, the big help out aims to highlight the positive impact volunteering has on communities.
Buckingham Palace said said that the big help out "will encourage people to try volunteering for themselves and join the work being undertaken to support their local areas", as a tribute to the King's public service. The aim of the day is to use volunteering to bring communities together and create a lasting volunteering legacy from the coronation weekend.
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