Hey everyone, and welcome back to another episode of the understandable English podcast.
Today we are going to be talking about a big event here in the UK, the United Kingdom, at the moment.
Today I am recording this podcast on the 6th of May 2023, which is the coronation of King Charles.
And in this episode, I'm going to be talking about what the coronation is and what is happening.
So what is the process of King Charles becoming king?
Coronation is simply a ceremony at which a person is made free, formally the king or queen.
So it's like a formal ceremony or show to officially make that person the king or queen.
However, since the queen died, queen elizabeth charles has been legally the king.
From that moment, The coronation is more, in my mind, a bit like an official show.
So showing an official ceremony to make him king.
A lot of people don't actually realize, but King Charles is king of not only the United Kingdom.
There is still a list of 15 countries of which King Charles is now becoming the king.
These are known as the Commonwealth Realms, or just the Commonwealth, and it is a group of 15 countries and smaller other nations.
These include, of course, the UK.
We've also got Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, the Bahamas, among others.
So in some of these countries, there will also be celebrations as well as in the UK.
So the ceremony in which King Charles III will be crowned king has been going on for more than a thousand years.
And it is made up of a lot of traditions and rituals.
So processes and things which have been done for a very long time.
And, of course, his wife Camilla, is also set to receive her title and crown of Queen, Consort or Queen.
So, the process of the day on the 6th of May.
What has happened?
And if you're listening to this, I guess well in the future, you may have already seen some videos or articles and photos of the event.
So to start with at 5 in the morning, so 5am coronation, viewing areas open along the main procession route.
But what does procession mean?
So the procession is when King Charles travels from Buckingham Palace first along to Trafalgar Square and then finally to Westminster Abbey, which is the famous church in which he will be crowned king.
I've already seen some articles and photos online showing how some of the British public, some of the British people, have been camping and sleeping outside since Wednesday evening in order to get a good view of King Charles traveling to Westminster Abbey for the ceremony.
Personally I think it's a bit crazy.
But if you're interested in it then sure I can kind of understand if you want to do it.
So the king's procession.
So when the king travels with the queen in a carriage.
So it's pulled by horses, along with, of course, lots of police, some military.
They travel from Buckingham Palace at 1020 am, they travel to trafalgar square, which is a very well-known, famous square, before going to westminster abbey and the service starts.
So the ceremony, the coronation, at around 11 am and lasts for about two hours, And we can split it into five stages that I will talk about now.
These stages are like traditions and processes which take place at each coronation, and they have a deep history and have lasted for hundreds of years.
The first stage of the ceremony is held and led by the Archbishop of Canterbury.
This is the leader of the Church of England.
And this phase is called recognition.
Charles will stand behind the 700 year old coronation chair and face the attendees, the people at the ceremony, and after a short presentation, the congregation will announce.
So the people there will say god save the king thing.
On to the second stage is the oath, which is like a promise.
An oath is a promise, a deep one.
The archbishop will get down to the legal requirement for the coronation oath.
The king will then be asked if he will uphold, so keep, the law and maintain Christianity, so the religion of Christianity within the UK.
Charles will then take a second oath or promise, in which he promises that he will be a faithful, loyal Protestant.
And then we will move on to the third part of the ceremony of the coronation.
And this is the anointing.
An anointing is when they put some kind of holy water on Charles.
This is part of what we could call the spiritual ceremonial traditions.
The archbishop, who we previously mentioned, will pour an oil that was made in Jerusalem from a golden flask called an ampulla.
Don't worry too much about the name ampulla.
It's just something which holds the oil.
He will pour this on to a spoon.
So a spoon is something you would use for eating soup.
And then from that, he will put the oil onto Charles.
And this part of the ceremony will not be visible on TV and cameras.
It is done behind a closed curtain.
Fourth stage and the next one, which is often the most important or one of the most interesting to see, is when Charles will receive some special objects and have the crown placed on his head.
He receives the gold headpiece, which we know as the crown, which contains more than 400 gemstones.
And this particular crown has been used since the year 1661 for the coronation of Charles II.
And the final stage is the Enfronement.
And what this means is when Charles will sit on the throne.
So the big chair, basically.
And then finally, as a symbolic gesture, so like another tradition, his oldest son, Prince William, will come to the new king.
He will get on one knee and swear his allegiance.
So he will kiss his right hand, recognising Charles as the new king.
Some guests will then be invited to also come up and do the same.
So they are recognising him, saying he is my new king, basically.
So those are the main processes of the ceremony.
After this there is some more religious stuff, such as communion, and then afterwards they travel back to Buckingham Palace with the same kind of parade, basically.
A little bit later there will be displays or parades from the army, navy and the air force.
And, if I remember correctly, in the evening there will be a large concert celebrating the occasion and the event.
Now, this whole process, so the coronation, has been incredibly expensive.
Some estimates are that it cost £100 million, but other sources have said including security, so making sure it's safe it has been up to £250 million, which is pretty crazy.
As for the people, so the citizens of the UK, the opinions are very different about this, about the coronation, about Charles and the royal family.
Of course, some love the traditions, they love the royal family and they find it very interesting.
Many around the UK will watch this on their televisions and have little parties to celebrate the coronation.
They will eat foods, they will maybe drink, sing some songs, watch it on TV and really just relax and have a good time.
But for some, they don't care too much.
It will be like a normal weekend.
The only difference is that on Monday we all get a holiday, a day off work to celebrate or spend doing whatever you like.
And for me, that's the best part.
I'm personally not very, very interested in the royal family.
I know, for example, my mother likes to watch it and read about it a lot more than myself.
But to each their own.
So each person has their own opinion and their own likes and dislikes.
So let me know, did you watch the coronation?
What did you think?
Do you like King Charles?
Are you interested in the royal family?
I would love to hear your opinions.
Thank you for listening and I will see you guys in the next episode.
Goodbye.
