UNITED KINGDOM – Quite a symbol. A little over an hour after the end of the coronation ceremony of King Charles III and Queen Camilla this Saturday, May 6 at Westminster Abbey in London, the royal family arrived on the traditional balcony of Buckingham Palace , where she waved to the cheering crowd. Accompanied by Prince William, his wife Kate and their three children, the two sovereigns stayed there to admire the Royal Air Force flypast, the final stage of this historic day for the British crown.
Buckingham’s balcony is an essential symbol of the monarchy in the United Kingdom. Since Queen Victoria came here to greet her subjects on the occasion of the Universal Exhibition of 1851, it has punctuated all the great moments of the royal family and the country. Prime Minister Winston Churchill came here to celebrate the victory of the Allies at the end of the Second World War, while Queen Elizabeth II distinguished herself there from the beginning to the end of her illustrious reign. It was also on the balcony of Buckingham that she made her last public appearance.
The Royal Family watch the coronation flypast from the Buckingham Palace balcony. The first four waves are all hell… https://t.co/gINLHIgA4U
—Sky News (@SkyNews)
If the atmosphere was around and within Buckingham Palace, the weather was not there. Because of the weather conditions, and in particular the rain, the British Air Force flypast was not only postponed by a quarter of an hour, but also shortened. At the end of it, the two sovereigns marked the recall and took advantage of their subjects one last time, before going to eat around an informal lunch.
Prince Harry absent on the balcony
If Prince William, his wife and children were able to join King Charles III and Queen Camilla, Princes Harry and Andrew, present during the sovereign coronation ceremony, were not invited to the balcony. Indeed, only members of the royal family who officially “work” for the crown can go there. Given their special status, the two princes were therefore not entitled to it.
France 2
After the coronation of Charles III, the royal family on the balcony of Buckingham.
It was followed by a procession of more than 4,000 soldiers that the royal carriage arrived, shortly before 3 p.m., at Buckingham Palace, located in the heart of London. As tens of thousands of Britons looked on, the King and Queen took their places on the West Terrace of the Royal Residence, where military personnel gave three different cheers to mark their arrival.
Festive lunches and giant concert
Earlier in the afternoon, trumpets and cannon shots were heard across the UK to mark the coronation of the two sovereigns, the culmination of a nearly two-year Christian ritual. hours, full of pomp and solemnity. During this ceremony, which had not taken place since June 2, 1953, the date of the coronation of the late Queen Elizabeth II, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, placed the crown of Saint Edward on the head of the sovereign, formalizing the beginning of his reign.
With this last stage, the coronation ceremony of King Charles III thus ends for this Saturday. On Sunday, the population will be invited to share great festive lunches with their neighbours. They will notably taste the traditional royal quiche of the British crown. The same evening, a giant concert will take place at Windsor Palace.
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