Rehearsals take place in the dead of the night ahead of King's coronation
Rehearsals took place in the dark early hours of Wednesday in London in preparation for King Charles' coronation on Saturday.
King Charles will be crowned at Westminster Abbey in a ceremony full of pomp, pageantry and solemn religious significance after he became monarch of the United Kingdom and 14 other realms on the death of his mother Queen Elizabeth in September.
For the best part of a thousand years, the kings and queens of England and Britain have been crowned at London's Westminster Abbey in a ceremony that has changed little throughout the centuries.
There have been 38 monarchs crowned at the abbey - Edward V, one of two young princes believed to have been murdered in the Tower of London in the 15th Century, and Edward VIII, who abdicated to marry American divorcee, Wallis Simpson, were not crowned.
The coronation ceremony will begin at 1000 GMT following a procession from Buckingham Palace. It is set to be shorter than that of his mother 70 years ago at about two hours long compared to almost four hours.
A much larger procession will depart the Abbey, made up of armed forces from Britain and across the Commonwealth. The king and queen will travel in the gold state coach which was commissioned in 1760.
Charles will take an oath to uphold the law and the Church of England.
Sitting on the historic Coronation Chair, known as St Edward's chair and containing the Stone of Destiny, he will be anointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the spiritual leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion, with holy oil consecrated in Jerusalem.
It is the centre point of the ceremony and signals the conferment of God's grace on the sovereign.
Charles will also be presented with various hugely ornate golden orbs, sceptres, swords and a ring, which all form part of the Crown Jewels and variously symbolise the monarch's power, authority and duties, and the power of God.
The archbishop will then place the heavy St Edward's Crown, used in coronations for the last 350 years, upon his head. Charles will leave the Abbey wearing a different crown, the Imperial State Crown.
The public will be invited to swear allegiance to the monarch and his heirs and successors.
There will be 2,200 guests inside Westminster Abbey, far fewer than the 8,000 in attendance for Queen Elizabeth's coronation in 1953.
Among those will be the British royal family, including Charles' younger son Prince Harry but not his wife Meghan, or his two children, with the ceremony taking place on son Prince Archie's fourth birthday.
There will also be other foreign royals, officials and heads of state, with US first lady Jill Biden representing the United States and China's Vice President Han Zheng expected to attend on behalf of Beijing.
Reuters
