On Saturday, May 6, King Charles Will Be Crowned At Westminster Abbey

Buckingham Palace has revealed that King Charles’ Coronation will take place on May 6 next year with the Queen Consort being crowned alongside him.

The new ruler will be officially crowned in what’s expected to be a scaled-back version of the ancient ceremony lasting just one hour and led by the Archbishop of Canterbury at Westminster Abbey.

The occasion, which will see the eyes of the world once more turn onto Britain, is set to take place on a Saturday scuppering the hopes of many who might have hoped for a bank holiday to celebrate the event, but insiders claim it’s doubtful extra time off will be given.

It will also take place on the fourth birthday of Harry and Meghan’s son, Archie, potentially yielding a clash in the Sussex home if the King’s second son is invited to the ceremony as is expected.

King Charles, 73, is said to want a more unpretentious affair than is tradition with the event being trimmed down to less than an hour, the guest list slashed by three-quarters and a less formal dress code.

The Palace confirmed as it revealed the date, that the Coronation will reflect the monarch’s position today and looks ahead to the future while being entrenched in longstanding customs and pageantry.

The announcement comes amid much speculation that the noteworthy event is being slimmed down amid the cost of living crisis and to make way for a more streamlined, modern monarchy.

Palace insiders said that while the Coronation will contain the same core components of the traditional ceremony which has maintained a similar structure for more than 1,000 years, it would recognise the spirit of our times.

It’s anticipated to be much shorter and more straightforward than the three-hour procession of the late Queen’s noteworthy Coronation in 1953.

Plans for the main occasion are known by the codename Operation Golden Orb, which sets out the blueprint for the service and pageantry encircling it.

They’re expected to see the guestlist cut from 8,000 to just 2,000 with a more casual dress code with peers possibly allowed to sport lounge suits instead of ceremonial robes.

Ancient and time-consuming practices, including giving the monarch gold ingots, are also set to be axed to preserve time.

However, the Prince of Wales is expected to play a major role in the event, the first time a successor will participate in the proceedings in three generations.

I’m not a lover of royalty, but King Charles III does appear to be showing some thoughtfulness and seems to be respecting the economical crisis that we’re in and that’s impacting all walks of life. On the other hand, if he was that thoughtful he wouldn’t have had a Coronation at all. He automatically became King once Queen Elizabeth II died, that’s a given so he didn’t have to have a Coronation at all, but then I suppose they do bring substantially more to the economy, but is it more than what they cost?

And of course, it had to be on the same day as Harry and Meghan’s son Archies birthday – a very clever move to keep the parents away, but then I don’t suppose Archie’s birthday is that high up on the list in the grand scheme of things.

Having a scaled-down Coronation is an extremely good judgment call, rather than having a gaudy over the top Coronation which would be out of keeping with a country fronting a cost of living crisis, and the optics would look excessively bad, and of course, once it was all over King Charles III definitely wouldn’t have retained his popularity.