King Charles III's coronation will be a momentous occasion - but the date the ancient ceremony is taking place has provided an awkward clash for some members of the royal family. The new Monarch will be crowned on Saturday May 6, 2023, amid great pageantry in Westminster Abbey during six basic phases - the recognition, the oath, the anointing, the investiture which includes the crowning, the enthronement and the homage.
While the guest list has yet to be confirmed, it will be expected that all members of the royal family will be joined by world leaders, state dignitaries and religious figures to see King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla being crowned. However, the date is unfortunate timing for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle - as they would have been expecting to celebrate another big milestone on that day.
Their son Archie's birthday is also on May 6, with Harry and Meghan's eldest child turning four-years-old.
It has not yet been confirmed who will attend the ceremony, but more than 20,000 people are expected to fill the Abbey to see Charles being crowned.
Harry has faced difficult times in his relationship with his father, telling US talk show host Oprah Winfrey he felt "really let down" by Charles.
The Duke of Sussex claimed Charles had stopped taking his calls in the run up to the Megxit crisis, and how there was a "lot of hurt".
He later lambasted Charles' skills as father, criticising him for expecting his sons to endure the pressures of royal life, and suggesting his parenting left him with "genetic pain and suffering".
There has also been much discussion about Archie's title, with Meghan claiming he was wrongfully denied being made Prince, even though he couldn't technically get that title until the Queen died.
Charles’ accession to the throne means Archie, who lives in California with Harry and Meghan and his one-year-old sister Lilibet, is technically now a prince.
But it has not been confirmed by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex or Buckingham Palace whether he will use the title of prince or whether Lili will use that of princess.
The date of Charles' coronation is also significant for a number of other reasons - and not just because it's the birthdays of former Prime Minister Tony Blair and Hollywood actor George Clooney.
It is also the wedding anniversary of the Queen's sister, Princess Margaret, who married the Earl of Snowdon in 1960, with the pair getting divorced in 1978.
May 6 is also the date that Charles’s great-great grandfather King Edward VII, who was Queen Victoria's son, died in 1910.
The Palace said the date was chosen in consultation with the Government, the Church of England and the Royal Household, but no further details have been given on why it was picked.
Charles will be anointed with holy oil, receive the orb, coronation ring and sceptre, be crowned with the majestic St Edward’s Crown and blessed during the historic ceremony.
Camilla will also be anointed with holy oil and crowned, just like the Queen Mother was when she was crowned Queen in 1937.
Although the Palace said the ceremony would "reflect the monarch’s role today and look towards the future", it also added that it would be "rooted in longstanding traditions and pageantry".
