Charles III fulfilled his long-awaited destiny by becoming the official king after a lifetime as the heir to his late mother Queen Elizabeth II.
The coronation marked the first in Britain since 1953.
At exactly 12:02 pm (1102 GMT), the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby placed the sacred and ancient symbol of the monarch’s authority, the solid gold St Edward’s Crown, on Charles’s head.
Charles III was crowned as the king at Westminster Abbey in London, UK
Queen Camilla crowned in historic first
Prince of Wales, William, vests his father with royal stole
At the solemn religious confirmation of his accession, the 2,300-strong congregation at Westminster Abbey erupted in cries of “God Save the King,” and the trumpet fanfares marked the climax.
As the religious confirmation of Charles’s accession concluded, ceremonial gun salutes reverberated across land and sea, and church bells rang in celebration throughout the country.
However, prior to Charles and Queen Camilla departing Buckingham Palace aboard the Diamond Jubilee State Coach for the rainy procession to the abbey, police utilized new powers to crack down on direct action groups and arrested dozens of protesters.
Republic, an anti-monarchy movement that advocates for an elected head of state, reported that authorities detained six of its organizers, while Just Stop Oil, a group of climate activists, claimed that authorities held 19 of its members.
Nonetheless, dozens of Republic activists held banners on the procession route declaring “Not My King.”
The arrests were concerning to Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, with HRW stating “This is something you would expect to see in Moscow, not London.”
London’s Metropolitan Police had one of its largest security operations to date, with approximately 11,500 officers on the streets, and has warned that it has an “extremely low threshold” for protests.
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