After 27,200 days as the heir, Charles Philip Arthur George has today been officially crowned King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Video / AP / Getty / The Royal Family / Jennifer Mortimer
King Charles III has vowed “not to be served, but to serve” as the world walks into a new era with a monarch ambitious to modernise the royal family in the 21st Century.
Overnight on Saturday, Charles was crowned in London’s Westminster Abbey in a formal religious ceremony steeped inthousand-year-old traditions - ushering in a Carolean age.
The ceremony for what was the longest-serving heir sees him formally become King of the United Kingdom and 14 Commonwealth realms, including New Zealand, as well as being head of the 56-member Commonwealth of Nations.
New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins, dressed in a new suit and a loaned kakahu (Māori cloak) made by Gerry Williamson of the Ngāti Rānana London Māori Club, was among some 2000 invited guests inside the Abbey in a star-studded event not seen since the coronation of Elizabeth II in 1953.
Hipkins wasn’t the only Kiwi at the ceremony full of pomp and pageantry, All Blacks legend Richie McCaw, Newstalk ZB broadcaster Mike Hosking and National Party leader Christopher Luxon also attended.
New Zealanders also played other vital roles in the ceremony.
In the most solemn part of the ceremony, the King was disrobed and, wearing a linen robe and was anointed with holy oil. During this, a touch of Aotearoa was featured, with the anointing screen commissioned by Charles being designed by NZ-born Aidan Hart.
Hart told the Shropshire Star last week that it was a “great honour” to have been chosen to create the only new piece of work commissioned for the coronation.
The anointing screen used in the coronation of Britain's King Charles III was the work of a Kiwi artist. Photo / AP
Before the sure-to-be-famed Buckingham Palace balcony appearance by the King and Queen Camilla, New Zealand was again on the world stage with a 20-person New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) contingent marching alongside other soldiers from the UK Armed Forces and the Commonwealth nations during the return procession from the Abbey.
The spectacle involved more than 7000 personnel from 40 different countries.
”A lot of hard work and discipline went into this by some exemplary soldiers, sailors and aviators. I, like many in the contingent, am proud to have the opportunity to participate in such a historic event,” NZDF Contingent Commander Major Mike Beale said.
New Zealand Defence Force personnel marched through central London as part of the historic Coronation of His Majesty King Charles III.
In the Abbey, Royal New Zealand Air Force Sergeant Hayden Smith, also carried the New Zealand flag while donning the Ngā Tapuwae kahu huruhuru cloak of the NZDF.
“It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, something I never thought I’d be a part of,” Smith said.
Making their way back down the Mall, Lieutenant Jessica Hansen of the New Zealand Army and Leading Aircraftman Harris Thien of the Royal New Zealand Air Force marched alongside the Gold State Coach as it transported the King and Queen back to Buckingham Palace.
“It was amazing to be a part of history. To be representing Aotearoa alongside His Majesty was a moment that will stay with me forever,” Thien said.
King Charles III arrives for his coronation ceremony in Westminster Abbey. Photo / AP
On what became a cool and rainy day in London, some eyes gazed towards disgraced Prince Andrew and a beaming Prince Harry, who attended without his wife Meghan.
Harry was spotted promptly leaving the UK on a flight back to LA, reportedly only an hour after the ceremony.
Prince William, his wife Catherine, Princess of Wales, and their two youngest children, Charlotte, 8, and Louis, 5, sat in the front row with Charles’ brother Prince Edward and his wife Sophie, while Harry was banished to the third row.
— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) May 6, 2023
Following the ceremony, which saw the more than 360-year-old 2.2kg St Edward’s Crown placed on the King’s head, senior members of the royal family waved to the crowd from Buckingham Palace’s balcony.
The King and Queen were flanked by the first in line to the throne, Prince William, his wife Kate, and their children. Also on the balcony were two of Charles’ siblings, Princess Anne and Prince Edward.
A flyover followed from the Royal Air Force with helicopters before the Red Arrows aerobatics display team painted the sky red, white and blue.
Charles returned to the balcony with Camilla for a second time, waving to the crowd of thousands gathered around the memorial to Queen Victoria and down the famed red road.
King Charles III and Queen Camilla wave from the balcony of Buckingham Palace after their coronation. Photo / AP
The Mall had been earlier been filled with hundreds of anti-monarchy protesters that had threatened to delay the event, 52 of which were arrested.
Back home in New Zealand, Kiwis marked the crowning of their new head of state with salutes fired by the New Zealand Defence Force from the Devonport Naval Base and Point Jerningham.
