Holy oil, sceptres and a spoon - King Charles' coronation ceremony

"There's a kind of desire to be kind of awed... almost feel that there's something magical is happening,'' royal historian at the University of Southampton Alice Hunt told Reuters.

Starting with how Charles and his wife, the Queen Consort Camilla, will get to and from the Abbey, here's what viewers can expect:

Charles and Camilla will be taken from Buckingham Palace to the Abbey in the Diamond Jubilee State Coach, built to commemorate Elizabeth's 60th year on the throne and first used in 2014. After the service, the couple will return in the Coronation Procession in the 260-year-old Gold State Coach, which has been used at every coronation since William IV's in 1831.

"The use of a golden carriage...This wasn't the transport that everyone needed to use by the early 20th century... But....this was the beginning of the recreation of the idea that the traditions of monarchy in the past were important," said Hunt.

Once inside the couple ''are they going to be crowned together", which is traditional for a king when there is also a queen.

"She (Camilla) will have a mini version of the ceremony that he (Charles) has. So he is anointed and crowned first, and then she will follow in a kind of watered-down version appropriate for the queen consort," Hunt added.

For the most part, Charles will sit in the coronation chair, which was commissioned for Edward I.

"It (the chair) faces the altar and the stone of Scone (or Stone of Destiny) that is underneath.... is the stone that Edward I took from Scotland and said to be the stone that Scottish Kings were crowned on," said Hunt.

She added that the form of the ''ceremony of the anointing.... will be very similar for Charles III, as it was for Elizabeth II''.

"The holy oil, the chrism which has been consecrated is poured into a spoon, (a) very old item of regalia, and the Archbishop of Canterbury....takes the oil and anoints the monarch in three different places," said Hunt.

After the anointing, it is onto the investiture, where Hunt says "the king is dressed up to look like a king".

The regalia he is given includes the Sovereign's Orb - commissioned for Charles II's coronation and is a globe of gold with a cross mounted on top, surrounded by a band of diamonds, emeralds, rubies, sapphires and pearls with a large amethyst at the summit. It is a representation of Christian sovereignty.

The Sovereign's Sceptre with Cross, which weighs in at 530 carats and is the world's largest colourless cut diamond, is a symbol of the monarch's religious power, while the Sovereign's Sceptre with Dove made from a gold rod in three sections shows the monarch is a merciful ruler.

The Sword of State represents the monarch's power and authority and their promise to defend religion and the country.

According to Hunt, the centrepiece of the regalia is St Edward's Crown which weighs about 2.2 kg (4 lb 12 ounces). It is made up of a solid gold frame set with rubies, amethysts, sapphires, garnet, topazes and tourmalines, and has a velvet cap with an ermine band.

Charles will be crowned with the historic crown that has been used since the coronation of King Charles II in 1661 after the monarchy was restored following the 10-year republic of Oliver Cromwell.

"(It) is a replica of the crown that was St. Edward's (the original) ... (it) was destroyed when Charles I was beheaded and then (the crown was) recommissioned in 1661 for Charles II. So it looks really, really old. It looks medieval but it's the 17th century," said Hunt.

"The monarch then in all the regalia and the crown is then presented to the congregation, the rest of the Abbey and to the world as the monarch," she added.

Charles and Camilla will then "recede into St. Edward's Chapel and change their clothes... And... Charles ...will put on the Imperial State Crown, which is really a symbol of England's separateness from anywhere else."

The couple are then expected to head off for the coronation procession and pose on the balcony at Buckingham Palace.

Reuters