Bahrain King departs for UK to attend King Charles III’s coronation

Agencies | Manama                                                       

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa yesterday left for the United Kingdom to attend the coronation ceremony of King Charles III on Saturday.

His Majesty is taking part in the ceremony as invited by King Charles III, who succeeds Queen Elizabeth II, seven long decades after named heir to the throne at the age of just three.

The hour-long ceremony takes place eight months after the death of his mother Queen Elizabeth II. Born on November 14, 1948, Charles III is now the King of the United Kingdom, of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Head of the Commonwealth.

The Coronation will be in the presence of some 2,000 people, from foreign leaders and royalty to elected officials and civil society representatives, inside Westminster Abbey. The ceremony is also the first for UK in 70 years and only the second in history to be televised.

Turning up alongside HM King Hamad will be World leaders including the French President Emmanuel Macron; Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese; German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier; Polish President Andrzej Duda; President of the Philippines Ferdinand Marcos Jr; and Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission.

Royals including King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia of Spain; Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary of Denmark; Crown Prince Fumihito and Crown Princess Kiko of Japan; Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene of Monaco; and King Abdullah II and Queen Rania of Jordan are also invited.

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his wife Akshata Murty along with members of the cabinet will be present. The day begins with the “King’s Procession” -- a 1.3-mile (two-kilometre) trip from Buckingham Palace in central London to Westminster Abbey.

The couple will travel in the Diamond Jubilee State Coach, drawn by six Windsor Grey horses, and escorted by members of the king’s bodyguard, the Household Cavalry. They will arrive for the start of the ceremony at 11:00 am (1000 GMT).

Charles will be crowned at 12:00 pm and the service, led by the highest-ranking cleric in the Church of England, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, ends at 1:00 pm. The ceremony has largely remained the same for more than 1,000 years.

The king will first be presented to the congregation, who respond with shouts of “God Save the King!” Following the ceremonies, The king and queen will return to Buckingham Palace in the Gold State Coach in a larger ceremonial “Coronation Procession”.

The coach, first used in 1762, weighs four tonnes and will be drawn by eight Windsor Greys, at walking pace. They will be joined by other members of the royal family and some 4,000 British and Commonwealth troops in full regalia.

At the palace, they will appear on the balcony at about 2:15 pm to greet the crowd and watch a Royal Air Force fly-past. Charles’s two sons from his first marriage to Princess Diana – the heir apparent Prince William and Prince Harry -- will both be there.

Harry, attending without his wife, Meghan, or their two children, and Charles’s brother Prince Andrew, are not expected to have a formal role to play. But William’s nine-year-old son Prince George, second in line to the throne, is one of the king’s four pages. Three of Camilla’s grandchildren -- Gus, Louis, and Freddy -- and her great-nephew Arthur are among her pages.