Buckingham Palace is planning a weekend of community events and volunteering to mark the coronation of King Charles III, seeking to highlight the monarchy’s ties to the nation as Britain crowns a new sovereign for the first time in 70 years.
The plans were revealed on Saturday when the palace released the schedule for the three-day coronation weekend, which will begin with the coronation of Charles and Camilla, the Queen’s consort, on Saturday, May 6.
The ceremony at Westminster Abbey will be preceded by a procession from Buckingham Palace to the Abbey. It will be followed by another procession, in which Charles and Camilla will join other members of the royal family, and an exit onto the palace balcony.
But there will be more to the weekend than crowns, sceptres and ermine robes.
The palace wants the coronation to demonstrate that the monarchy still has a role to play in a multicultural nation struggling to cope with a cost-of-living crisis, budget cuts and a wave of public sector strikes.
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The coronation will be a solemn service presided over by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, but the palace is also planning a weekend of events which highlight the different communities and cultures that contribute to modern Britain.
The palace is asking neighborhoods across the country to take part in the ‘Big Coronation Lunch’ on Sunday 7 May – the latest incarnation of the block parties that have become a staple of major royal celebrations.
Tonight there will be a concert at Windsor Castle featuring a choir made up of amateur troupes across the UK, including refugee choirs, NHS choirs, LGBTQ choirs and deaf singing choirs. The Coronation Choir will perform alongside another made up of singers from across the Commonwealth who will appear virtually during the televised concert, which will also include yet-to-be-revealed headliners.
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During the concert, venues across the country will be lit up with projections, lasers and drone displays.
The following day, the palace invites people from all over the country to take part in ‘The Big Help Out’, encouraging them to volunteer in their own communities.
“The large donation will encourage people to try volunteering themselves and join the work being done to support their local areas,” the palace said in a statement. “The aim of The Big Help Out is to use volunteering to bring communities together and create a lasting volunteering legacy from Coronation Weekend.”
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