According to the news agency AP, Charles III was enthroned as the King of the United Kingdom on Saturday and crowned there in a spectacular ceremony based on ancient traditions. This is the first coronation since 1953, when Queen Elizabeth II succeeded her father, King George VI, to the throne.
As the monarch sat on a 14th-century throne, the Archbishop of Canterbury crowned the monarch by placing the 360-year-old St. Edward’s Crown on his head, according to news agency Reuters. Soon after he and Camilla, the queen consort, arrived at Westminster Abbey, the King took the solemn oath to rule the people of the United Kingdom with “justice and mercy” and to nurture a society where people of all faiths and beliefs can live freely.
According to the news agency PTI, Indian Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar and his wife Dr. Sudeep Dhankhar also arrived at Westminster Abbey to represent India for the historic coronation of King Charles. At the ceremony, they will be sitting next to other Commonwealth Heads of State.
Dhankhar first met the king during a Buckingham Palace reception hosted by the monarch for the visiting dignitaries and foreign leaders earlier in the day. The Vice President met with Dr Jill Biden, the First Lady of the United States of America, H.E. Akshata Murty, the wife of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, H.E. Isaac Herzog, the President of Israel, and H.E. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the President of Brazil, during a jam-packed day of royal engagements.
In the meantime, the police detained a number of protestors who had collected among the crowds along the procession route in central London hours before the coronation, according to the news agency AP. They also detained the leader of the anti-monarchy group Republic.