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King will attend Easter church service at Windsor

The announcement that the King, aged 75, will be at the Easter morning church service will be seen as an encouraging sign about his health…reports Asian Lite News

The King and Queen will attend the Easter Sunday service at St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, Buckingham Palace has confirmed.

This will be one of the most significant events King Charles will have attended since his cancer diagnosis last month. The King and Queen will be joined at the service by other senior royals.

But the Prince and Princess of Wales will not be there, as Catherine continues with her cancer treatment.

The announcement that the King, aged 75, will be at the Easter morning church service will be seen as an encouraging sign about his health.

He has continued to carry out meetings and kept up his work as head of state. But he has not been at public events this year, after having treatment for an enlarged prostate and later revealing that he had been diagnosed with a form of cancer.

The King will be with Queen Camilla, who has been carrying a number of solo royal engagements in her husband’s absence.

The Princess of Wales, who put out a video statement last week about being treated for cancer, is continuing her recovery. It had already been announced that she would not be at the Easter service at the church on the Windsor estate.

Her husband Prince William and their three children will also not be at St George’s Chapel on Sunday. There have been calls for her privacy and she will be spending more time out of public sight as she receives treatment.

The Easter church service is a regular feature of the royal calendar, usually attended by many senior royals, but this year it is expected to be a smaller gathering.

In the run-up to Easter, King Charles hosted a gathering of faith leaders in Buckingham Palace. The meeting on Tuesday was in support of a charity that brings together representatives of religious faiths, including Christian, Muslim and Jewish leaders.

Building bridges between religions and encouraging tolerance has been a long-standing cause for King Charles.

ALSO READ-King Charles thanks public for support  

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King Charles thanks public for support  

On Monday, Buckingham Palace announced the King had been diagnosed with cancer while undergoing a procedure for an enlarged prostate…reports Asian Lite News

King Charles III has expressed his “heartfelt thanks” to the British public for their messages of support ever since his cancer diagnosis was revealed by Buckingham Palace this week.

The 75-year-old monarch wrote the message from his royal estate at Sandringham in Norfolk, eastern England, in which he also expressed his “lifelong admiration” for the work done by cancer charities.” The King said he was heartened that his personal experience of the disease had helped shine a light on the tireless care provided by cancer organisations around the world.

“I would like to express my most heartfelt thanks for the many messages of support and good wishes I have received in recent days,” reads the King’s message released by Buckingham Palace on Sunday.

“As all those who have been affected by cancer will know, such kind thoughts are the greatest comfort and encouragement,” he said.

“It is equally heartening to hear how sharing my own diagnosis has helped promote public understanding and shine a light on the work of all those organisations which support cancer patients and their families across the UK and the wider world. My lifelong admiration for their tireless care and dedication is all the greater as a result of my own personal experience,” he added.

On Monday, Buckingham Palace announced the King had been diagnosed with cancer while undergoing a procedure for an enlarged prostate.

In line with the initial announcement, the latest statement also does not reference any further details about what kind of cancer the monarch has been detected with, the type of treatment he is having or what stage the cancer is at.

Earlier, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak had indicated that the cancer had been “caught early” as his customary weekly audiences with the King are expected to continue during the course of the treatment.

King Charles started his treatment in London before flying out to Sandringham with Queen Camilla, who revealed at an event that her husband was doing “extremely well” since the start of his treatment.

The palace has said it will not provide any further details about the diagnosis or the treatment.

In an official statement, it said that the King’s recent hospital procedure for benign prostate enlargement, a separate issue of concern was noted and subsequent diagnostic tests have identified a form of cancer.

The monarch has commenced a schedule of regular treatments, during which time he has been advised by doctors to postpone public-facing duties. However, he will continue to undertake State business and official paperwork as usual.

“His Majesty is grateful to his medical team for their expert care and swift intervention, is wholly positive about his treatment and looks forward to returning to full public duty as soon as possible,” Buckingham Palace said earlier this week.

“Regrettably, a number of the King’s forthcoming public engagements will have to be rearranged or postponed. His Majesty would like to apologise to all those who may be disappointed or inconvenienced as a consequence,” it said.

The King will continue to receive Red Boxes, which contain official papers for his review and sign-off, and process State documents as there are no plans to appoint Counsellors of State – which include his wife Queen Camilla and son and heir Prince William. They are expected to divide the King’s public-facing duties between them during his treatment phase.

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King Charles diagnosed with cancer

King Charles is looking forward to returning to full public duty as soon as possible….reports Asian Lite News

King Charles III has been diagnosed with a form of cancer, Buckingham Palace said in a statement on Monday.

The King of Britain has been advised by his doctors to postpone public-facing duties. He has already begun the schedule of regular treatments after the diagnosis.

However, he will continue to handle official documentation and state business as usual throughout this time.

“During The King’s recent hospital procedure for benign prostate enlargement, a separate issue of concern was noted. Subsequent diagnostic tests have identified a form of cancer. His Majesty has today commenced a schedule of regular treatments, during which time he has been advised by doctors to postpone public-facing duties,” the statement from Buckingham Palace read.

King Charles is looking forward to returning to full public duty as soon as possible.

“Throughout this period, His Majesty will continue to undertake State business and official paperwork as usual. The King is grateful to his medical team for their swift intervention, which was made possible thanks to his recent hospital procedure,” Buckingham Palace said.

“He remains wholly positive about his treatment and looks forward to returning to full public duty as soon as possible. His Majesty has chosen to share his diagnosis to prevent speculation and in the hope it may assist public understanding for all those around the world who are affected by cancer,” it added.

Notably, the King underwent treatment for an enlarged prostate last week in London.

The British monarch spent three nights at a private hospital, the London Clinic, near Regent’s Park, after being admitted there. He was said to be “doing well” following the procedure.

King Charles was crowned last year at the age of 74 after inheriting the monarchy upon the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II. His health is generally understood to have been good. In 2008, he had a non-cancerous growth removed from his face.

According to Britain’s National Health Service, more than one in three British men will face some issues with prostate enlargement in their lifetime, and the condition is commonly associated with ageing. (ANI)

ALSO READ-King Charles III discharged from hospital

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King Charles to Deliver COP28 Opening Address

While in the UAE, the King will take the opportunity to have meetings with regional leaders, ahead of COP28….reports Asian Lite News

His Majesty King Charles III of the United Kingdom will attend on Friday, 1st December 2023, the Opening Ceremony of the World Climate Action Summit at COP28 UAE, at the invitation of UAE President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and at the request of His Majesty’s Government.

The King will deliver an opening address at the Summit, hosted by the President of the UAE in Dubai, Buckingham Palace said on Wednesday.

While in the UAE, the King will take the opportunity to have meetings with regional leaders, ahead of COP28.

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King Charles urges stronger France-UK ties on climate

Nearly 1,000 people are working to restore the cathedral, which dates back to the 12th century and is considered one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture…reports Asian Lite News

King Charles III has pledged to do everything he can during his reign to strengthen the relationship between France and the United Kingdom, suggesting the two countries should team up to tackle the climate crisis.

“For the time that is granted to me as king, I pledge to do whatever I can to strengthen the indispensable relationship between the United Kingdom and France,” he told the French Senate in a keynote address on the second day of a three-day visit on Thursday.

The British monarch also suggested that Paris and London should team up to tackle the climate and biodiversity emergencies with a new version of the 1904 Entente Cordiale pact, which sealed the friendship between the two nations.

“I would like to propose it also becomes an ‘Entente pour la Durabilite’ [Partnership for Sustainability] in order to tackle the global climate and biodiversity emergency more effectively,” Charles told lawmakers in the upper chamber of the French Parliament.

French President Emmanuel Macron, Britain’s King Charles and Britain’s Queen Camilla attend a state banquet at the Palace of Versailles

At a lavish state banquet held at the Palace of Versailles on Wednesday evening, Charles issued a similar call for France and the UK to reinvigorate their relations in comments echoed by French President Emmanuel Macron.

It is “incumbent upon us all to reinvigorate our friendship to ensure it is fit for the challenge of this, the 21st century”, Charles said in a toast.

Macron added: “Despite Brexit, … I know, your majesty, that we will continue to write part of the future of our continent together to meet the challenges and to serve the causes we have in common.”

“Our relations have, of course, not always been entirely straightforward,” Charles said in a speech in both English and accented but clearly spoken French that impressed his hosts.

But he set out an optimistic vision of the Entente Cordiale, calling it a “sustainable alliance”.

Later on Thursday, the British monarch will visit the northern Parisian suburb of Saint-Denis – home to the French national stadium used for the Rugby World Cup and the Olympics next year – where he is expected to see residents and sports stars.

At the Ile de la Cite in the river Seine, Charles, a keen gardener who once admitted he talked to his plants, will tour a flower market named after his late mother, Queen Elizabeth II.

From there, he will view renovation and reconstruction work at the nearby Notre-Dame Cathedral, which was partially destroyed by a fire in 2019.

French president’s wife Brigitte Macron, Britain’s Queen Camilla, Britain’s King Charles and French President Emmanuel Macron arrive for a state banquet at the Palace of Versailles

Nearly 1,000 people are working to restore the cathedral, which dates back to the 12th century and is considered one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture.

After the fire, Charles said in an emotional message to Macron that he was “utterly heartbroken”, calling Notre-Dame “one of the greatest architectural achievements of Western civilisation”.

The Paris leg of the state visit wraps up with a formal farewell from Macron at the Elysee Palace.

The visit, which was rescheduled from March due to mass protests against French pension reforms, also aims to showcase Charles’s stature as a statesman just over a year after the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II.

The original itinerary in Paris and the southwestern city of Bordeaux is largely unchanged and is packed with ceremony and pomp in a country that abolished its monarchy in the 1789 revolution and executed its king.

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King Charles’ France trip fails to impress locals

King Charles and Queen Camilla were the honoured guests at a banquet at the resplendent Versailles Palace….reports Asian Lite News

King Charles, accompanied by Queen Camilla, embarked on a state visit to France this week, aiming to mend relations between the UK and France. However, the enthusiasm from the French populace seems to be waning. A contrast has been drawn between King Charles and the late Queen Elizabeth, with the latter being more favourably remembered for her allure and regality.

King Charles and Queen Camilla were the honoured guests at a banquet at the resplendent Versailles Palace. The feast featured a blend of English and French culinary delights, including blue lobster and Bresse poultry. However, the absence of the glamour that Queen Elizabeth once brought to such events was noted by Parisians.

Charles, like his mother, is fluent in French and is expected to reflect on the deep affinity the late queen had for France. But, to many in Paris, these gestures do little to ignite excitement or interest.

A retiree, Mireille Mauve, mentioned that Charles and Camilla do not share the same historical prominence as the late queen.

“He’s just the son, they are old already, we don’t have a long history,” Reuters quoted him as saying.

He believes Camilla is “not so enchanting, she’s a bit dull with her discourse. All this combined together doesn’t create much interest”.

In the UK, recent polls indicate that King Charles is not as revered as his late mother although 60% of the populace still holds a favourable view of him. However, younger Britons are increasingly critical, not just of Charles but also of the concept of the monarchy.

Alexia Aubert, a 15-year-old Parisian, articulated a similar sentiment, saying the British Royal Family had lost much of its symbolic importance since the passing of Queen Elizabeth.

“I think since Elizabeth died, the Royal Family isn’t as important as it was, King Charles isn’t as important and symbolic as Elizabeth, so it doesn’t really matter if he comes or not,” Reuters quoted Alexia as saying.

Edouard Val de Lievre, a local carpenter, sees the British monarchy as merely “part of the folklore in England”.

“He represents the English population but that’s all, nothing special for me,” he added.

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King Charles III’s special Coronation coins enter circulation

The obverse or heads side of the 50p features the King’s official coin portrait, which was unveiled in September last year and designed by renowned British sculptor Martin Jennings and personally approved by Charles…reports Asian Lite News

A special 50 pence coin created to mark King Charles III’s Coronation in May will start to appear in circulation across the UK from Thursday.

Britain’s Royal Mint said the Post Office and bank branches throughout the country will receive 5 million 50p coins, which feature a design to celebrate the 74-year-old British monarch’s Coronation on May 6.

This is the second 50p to enter circulation bearing the King’s official coin portrait, the first being a memorial coin which entered circulation in December last year to mark the historic transition from Queen Elizabeth II to King Charles III.

“This is a special moment for the nation, as members of the public will have the opportunity to find a piece of history in their change,” said Rebecca Morgan, Director of Commemorative Coin at the Royal Mint.

“We anticipate the Coronation 50p coins will be highly sought after among coin collectors and members of the public keen to own a piece of British history. The Royal Mint has had the honour of striking coins for every British monarch since Alfred the Great and we are proud to continue that long history with the introduction of His Majesty’s official coinage,” she said.

The reverse or tails side of the new 50p, designed by Royal Mint Coin Designer Natasha Jenkins, features the historic Westminster Abbey in London, in a nod to the location of the King’s Coronation. At the centre of the design is the King’s official cypher, representing him at the Abbey being crowned the monarch.

The obverse or heads side of the 50p features the King’s official coin portrait, which was unveiled in September last year and designed by renowned British sculptor Martin Jennings and personally approved by Charles.

All 50p coins entering circulation will feature the King’s uncrowned portrait, differing from the commemorative Coronation coins that were unveiled to the public earlier this year.

Earlier this year, the Royal Mint unveiled a commemorative coin range marking the King’s Coronation which it says has proved popular around the world and saw collectors from 89 countries purchasing them.

All UK coins bearing the effigy of Charles’ mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, will remain legal tender and in active circulation. Historically, it has been commonplace for coins featuring the effigies of different monarchs to co-circulate in the UK. This ensures a smooth transition, with minimal environmental impact and cost.

There are approximately 27 billion coins currently circulating in the UK bearing the effigy of Queen Elizabeth II. These will be replaced over time as they become damaged or worn and to meet demand for additional coins, the Royal Mint said.

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Prince Harry opens up on claims that King Charles isn’t his father

In the witness statement, Prince Harry reiterated the false nature of the rumours , citing the fact that his mother’s affair with James Hewitt didn’t start until years after he was born…reports Asian Lite News

Prince Harry recently addressed the longstanding rumour that King Charles III is not his real father, adding that the claim caused him great pain over the years. In a court testimony on June 6, The Duke of Sussex said he feared British tabloid journalists wanted to prove his father was Major James Hewitt so he could be ”ousted” from the royal family, Newsweek reported.

Notably, the Duke of Sussex is suing Mirror Group Newspapers for allegedly using unethical methods, such as phone hacking, to obtain information to produce dozens of news articles on him. One of these was an article published in 2002 in The People headlined: ”Plot to Rob the DNA of Harry.”

Prince Harry noted that several newspapers had reported a rumour that his biological father was James Hewitt after his mother admitted to having an affair with him.

In the witness statement, Prince Harry reiterated the false nature of the rumours , citing the fact that his mother’s affair with James Hewitt didn’t start until years after he was born.

“Never mind that my mother didn’t meet Major Hewitt until long after I was born, the story was simply too good to drop,” he said in the written statement.

”At the time, when I was 18 years old and had lost my mother [Princess Diana] just six years earlier, stories such as this felt very damaging and very real to me,” Harry said.

”They were hurtful, mean, and cruel. I was always left questioning the motives behind the stories. Were the newspapers keen to put doubt into the minds of the public so that I might be ousted from the Royal Family?”, he added.

Notably, Prince Harry had also addressed the rumour in his memoir ‘Spare’. He mentioned that King Charles would often make cruel and unfunny jokes about not being his biological father.

“Pa liked telling stories, and this was one of the best in his repertoire. He’d always end with a burst of philosophizing … Who knows if I’m really the Prince of Wales? Who knows if I’m even your real father?” Harry wrote in an excerpt of his memoir released on January 10.

He continued, ”He’d laugh and laugh, though it was a remarkably unfunny joke, given the rumor circulating just then that my actual father was one of Mummy’s former lovers: Major James Hewitt. One cause of this rumor was Major Hewitt’s flaming ginger hair, but another cause was sadism. Tabloid readers were delighted by the idea that the younger child of Prince Charles wasn’t the child of Prince Charles.”

According to the Independent, Hewitt, a former cavalry officer in the British Army, famously had an affair with Prince Harry’s mother, Princess Diana, in the mid-nineties. The affair lasted five years, from 1986 to 1991, and took place while she was still married to King Charles. Prince Harry was born in 1984, 2 years before she met Hewitt.

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King Charles’ Britain is not a new country, but the wrapping has definitely changed

If by having different religious groups at the Coronation ceremony at the Abbey showed a new face of Britain the way the Commonwealth has been presented shows how it still has to reconcile itself to the empire that no longer exists, writes Mihir Bose

I am not a royalist but, like my wife who is a fervent royalist, I sat glued to the television watching the Coronation. The ceremony vividly brought home how much the country has changed, the question is how far does this change go and does it mean we now have a new King and a new country or a new king and new wrapping round the old country.

In 1969, when I arrived in this country as a student from India, Prince Charles had his Investiture where Queen Elizabeth formally presented her son with the title of Prince of Wales. Interestingly, the ceremony was strictly not necessary as the Queen had made Prince Charles, Prince of Wales on 26th July 1958. This was also true of the Coronation as Charles had become King the moment his mother died. The Investiture was a show the monarchy put on. The Coronation was also a show. But while the Investiture was a bit like a royal It’s a Knockout the Coronation was a much bigger, surefooted,  show.

It was meant to demonstrate that the British state, unlike many other countries, had a long continuous history which could not be disputed. It showed how well the country can integrate its past with the Coronation held at the Abbey where William the conqueror had been crowned, the first coronation at Westminster. It also provided the public a chance to show much they loved the monarchy as demonstrated in the number of street parties that were held the day after the Coronation.

Back in 1969 there was a certain nervousness on the part of Charles during the ceremony and an  apprehension among the general public. The ceremony had been created for the previous Prince of Wales, his great uncle Duke of Windsor, who had been forced to abdicate the throne because the then Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin would not allow him to marry the divorced American Wallis Simpson. This created a rift in the royal family, which was never healed, and some commentators wondered if the same fate would befall Charles. My father, who lived through the abdication crisis, was convinced the British would never allow a divorced woman to ascend the throne. It is a sign of the tremendous change that has come to this country that there was never any question of Rishi Sunak telling Charles that Camilla could not be Queen. Indeed, her becoming Queen was a story much talked about in the press and the media coverage of the Coronation featured the love between Camilla and Charles.

This, of course, was not the only change. While the ceremony was Anglican presided over by the Archbishop of Canterbury and Charles pledged to be a Protestant monarch, emphasising that only a Protestant can be a monarch of this country, in stark contrast to his mother’s coronation in 1953,  there were other Christian sects present. This included the Catholic Church for the first time since Henry VIII had taken Britain out of the Church of Rome. And in addition to the two other revealed religions of Judaism and Islam there were other faiths, such as Hinduism and Sikhism. Their representatives not only got a seat in Westminster Abbey but presented objects to the King making them part of the ceremony. To cap it all a devout Hindu, Rishi Sunak from the podium, read the Epistle. This is despite the fact that the historian David Starkey, a couple of days before the Coronation, had said the Prime Minister is “really not fully grounded in our culture”. And on GB television a presenter had described Sunak as a Heathen”.  

This was somewhat ironic although the GB presenter would not have understood it. One part of the Coronation ceremony, in some ways so important that it was not visible to the public, was very heathen. It made me feel I was at a Hindu religious ceremony. This was when Charles went behind a screen to be anointed with holy oil. It was very similar to what happens in Hindu religious functions when in the middle of the religious ceremony a curtain is drawn round the idol and the priest goes behind the curtain. The Hindu priest emerges with food which is said to have been blessed by the gods and is considered prasad, holy food. This is distributed to the devotees. As a child growing up this was part of the ceremony I loved most as the food is most delicious and since it is holy food nobody could tell me that I could not keep asking for more. Charles did not emerge from the screen with any delicious Anglican food for the people at the Abbey. Without his robes and wearing a white tunic he looked as if he had done some maintenance work while behind the screen and could do with some prasad himself.

That there was such a heathen element to the ceremony was appropriate given how Charles has  seen his reign when it comes to religion. Charles, while remaining firmly wedded to his Protestant faith, has always said he wants to represent all faiths as King. This is an important change. But the mistake here is to think this makes this country secular. It does not. This is a religious country where the monarch is head of the state and church and the church is Protestant. It means all faiths are allowed to practise their religion without hindrance.

But if Charles becoming King represents a very big break with how this country sees those who are not Protestants the Coronation and the way it was covered showed the British are still unable to come to terms with their imperial history. This may pose the greatest problem for the King. Back in 1953 when his mother was crowned although India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Burma were independent Britain still had a huge empire and had no desire to give up its colonies. In fact, it was using very repressive measures to maintain its empire and fighting violent wars in many parts of the world. It would continue to do so for some years after the Queen’s coronation ranging from Malaya, Kenya, Jamaica, Grenada and British Guiana.

Although the Labour government had given India freedom when it came to African colonies and other dark-skinned territories getting freedom it had no desire to set people free for as Herbert Morrison, a prominent minister in Clement Attlee’s government, had put it this would be like” giving a child a latchkey, a bank account and a shot gun”.

It was a year before Charles’ mother was crowned that the British unleased barbarous force to deal with the Mau Mau rebellion in Kenya, a conflict that lasted for another seven years after the Queen was crowned. It was only more than 60 years later, after an unprecedented legal claim made by five survivors of that violence, during which the British government sensationally disclosed that it had “discovered “ a huge cache of files that had been hidden away, that the truth came out. The hidden files had proved so devastating that it led to a settlement with the claimants and an unprecedented apology by William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, in the House of Commons on June 6, 2013. He admitted that, “The British government recognise that Kenyans were subject to torture and other forms of ill-treatment at the hands of the colonial administration. The British government sincerely regret that these abuses took place and that they marred Kenya’s progress towards independence.”

He also said, “The agreement includes payment of a settlement sum in respect of 5,228 claimants, as well as a gross costs sum, to the total value of £19.9 million. The Government will also support the construction of a memorial in Nairobi to the victims of torture and ill-treatment during the colonial era. The memorial will stand alongside others that are already being established in Kenya as the country continues to heal the wounds of the past. And the British High Commissioner in Nairobi is also today making a public statement to members of the Mau Mau War Veterans Association in Kenya, explaining the settlement and expressing our regret for the events of the Emergency Period.”

It is clear that Charles will face growing demands to apologise for the past, in particular the slave trade and that the royals, having benefited from slavery, should pay reparations. But while these demands will be resisted what nothing he, or his government, will be able to do is when those Commonwealth countries who still accept him as head of state want to follow the example India set when it became independent and declare themselves republic.

And this is where the Coronation coverage has shored up trouble for the future. There was much reference to the Commonwealth, even Prince William made reference to it in his speech at the Coronation concert to honour his father. The impression created was that the Commonwealth is one entity. The Speaker of the House of Commons even said on television that the King is the head of state of the Commonwealth. He is not. He is head of state of 14 Commonwealth countries, what are called the realms. The great majority of Commonwealth nations have their own heads of state. It is significant that India, which has more than half the population of the entire Commonwealth and is now the most populous country in the world, sent not Narendra Modi, its Prime Minister, to the Coronation but the Vice President, who has largely a ceremonial job. To present the Commonwealth as it was in the days of the empire is nonsense and will not help people understand when some of the 14 realms decide they no longer want Charles as their head of state.

If by having different religious groups at the Coronation ceremony at the Abbey showed a new face of Britain the way the Commonwealth has been presented shows how it still has to reconcile itself to the empire that no longer exists. This will not help Charles build the new Britain he clearly wants to build.

The country has changed. But not remotely enough to say we are a new country under a new King.

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In coronation, King Charles carries on a medieval tradition

The coronation ceremony dates back to the medieval period, and much of it remains unchanged…reports Asian Lite News

Great Britain’s royal family turns the page on a new chapter Saturday with the coronation of King Charles III.

The pomp, pageantry and symbolism dates back more than 1,000 years, but the crowning of this king will feature new twists on the tradition and changes from the coronation of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, 70 years ago.

Plans for the ceremony at Westminster Abbey call for a more toned-down affair than the last one, even though royals from other nations, heads of state and most of Charles’ family will be there, and the monarch plans to wear the same vestments as Elizabeth did.

Charles automatically ascended to the throne when Elizabeth died Sept. 8, and he was officially proclaimed Britain’s monarch two days later in an ascension ceremony broadcast for the first time on television.

Charles said he was “deeply aware of this great inheritance and of the duties and heavy responsibilities of sovereignty which have now passed to me.”

There is no legal requirement for a coronation, and other European monarchies have done away with the ceremonies.

But the deeply religious and regalia-heavy event is a more formal confirmation of his role as head of state and titular head of the Church of England and was intended to show the king’s authority was derived from God.

During the service conducted by the church’s spiritual leader, the archbishop of Canterbury, Charles will be anointed with oil, receive the traditional symbols of the monarch — including the orb and scepter — and have the St. Edwards Crown placed on his head for the first time. Charles’ wife, Camilla, will be crowned as queen consort.

The coronation ceremony dates back to the medieval period, and much of it remains unchanged.

Westminster Abbey has been the setting of the ritual since William the Conqueror was crowned in 1066.

Elizabeth II’s coronation in June 1953 was the first to be televised live. It drew an audience of tens of millions in Britain and was later played to a worldwide audience. In the age of streaming and social media, people will be able to watch Charles’ crowning live from virtually anywhere on the planet and post their hot takes with a crown emoji created for the occasion.

Charles has said he plans to slim down the monarchy. His coronation is expected to reflect that with a ceremony shorter than his mother’s three-hour extravaganza and 2,000 guests in the audience — a quarter the number who assembled to see Elizabeth crowned.

The procession after the ceremony also will be decidedly shorter than the 5-mile (8 kilometer) route that Elizabeth and her husband, Prince Philip, took around London in 1953. Charles and Camilla plan to take a 1.3-mile (2-kilometer) path back to Buckingham Palace, trading the wheels that will bring them to the church — the 260-year-old coach used in every coronation since William IV’s in 1831 — for the comfort of a more modern carriage on the return trip.

A hundred heads of state are expected to attend along with royalty ranging from Japan’s Crown Prince Akishino and his wife, Kiko, to Spain’s King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia.

The U.S. will keep alive its streak of a president never attending a British royal coronation, although first lady Jill Biden is set to attend.

William, Prince of Wales and heir to the throne, is expected to kneel before his father and pledge his loyalty in what’s known as the Homage of Royal Blood.

His younger brother, Prince Harry, the disgruntled Duke of Sussex, is not expected to take part in the service. His explosive memoir “Spare,” which became a bestseller early this year, made unflattering claims about the royal family.

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