Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

What it was really like inside the Abbey

What it was really like inside the Abbey

This was history in the making - and you had to pinch yourself to think you were seeing it close-up, inside Westminster Abbey.

Over there was the battered but rather beautiful Coronation chair, with a King about to be crowned. It looked almost fragile waiting for its royal occupant.

You could feel the sense of expectation. It was really happening right here, on an altar full of candlelight, prayers and a glow of gold. The Abbey was like being inside a jewel box.

The first Coronation in 70 years proved to be a sumptuous, seamless and often surreal ceremony.

Before 2,300 guests, King Charles and Queen Camilla went through the ancient rituals, with a twist of modern signals about diversity.

But it was also like a spectacularly lavish wedding, with friends, families and famous faces crowded into every corner of the church, playing with their phones, checking to see who else was there.

And where else would international royalty, world leaders and 100 overseas heads of state get an opportunity to meet Ant and Dec?

The King is crowned in the 700-year-old Coronation chair


There were glamorous outfits and hats, splashes of military uniforms with epaulettes, plumes and swords, clerical robes and every shade and shape of national dress. The selfies on the way in were going to prove that they'd really been here.

There were traditional roles with baffling titles such as Bluemantle Pursuivant and Rouge Dragon Pursuivant and a number of men seemed to be entirely dressed in medieval flags.

Walking down the nave when he arrived, the King seemed to be pausing to take it all in.

What was he thinking, after all the decades that he'd been waiting for this day? Was he thinking about his mother, his own family, the responsibility?

When the Archbishop of Canterbury appeared to give the crown a couple of twists on his head, the King might have been thinking less charitable thoughts.

A guest in the Abbey takes a selfie with Ant and Dec


And the only person who could have stolen the King's show was possibly Penny Mordaunt, the lord president of the council, who hovered around the high altar looking like a deity who had escaped from an ancient Greek urn.

But the King must have been delighted with the music, not least because he'd chosen it himself, like all of this elaborate ceremony. It was like a big work of art and he was its creator.

At close quarters in the abbey, the orchestra and choir were remarkable, the music welling up like a tidal wave of sound. It was bouncing off the stained glass windows.

The piece by William Byrd had all the aching melancholy and stillness that you suspect King Charles would really have enjoyed. Handel's Zadok the Priest, full of drama and anticipation, was a real spine-tingler.

There was also the most eclectic collection of people in the congregation. There were hundreds of charity workers, US First Lady Jill Biden, President Macron and rows of celebrities, such as Joanna Lumley, Maggie Smith, Stephen Fry, and hello, it's Lionel Ritchie.

Many of the guests had been inside the abbey for hours before it started, which meant some of the best-dressed queues ever seen for the toilets. I'd never really thought about the mechanics of such a visit for a peer in floor-length robes and ermine.

It was a lavish and colourful spectacle in the Abbey


There had been stories about MPs complaining about a lack of tickets for the Coronation. Part of the problem might be there are now so many ex-PMs to accommodate. Even Liz Truss got a seat.

Boris Johnson arrived looking like his shirt collars were staging their own backbench rebellion.

The current PM, Rishi Sunak, had a speaking part, delivering the Bible lesson.

For those hoping to watch any body language between Prince Harry and his brother Prince William, there was nothing to see, as they may as well have been sitting a continent apart.

Harry arrived looking relaxed and chatty, despite this being a huge transatlantic flying visit, and was seated a couple of rows behind Prince William, the Prince of Wales.

Prince Harry was heading back to the US straight after the service


The older brother, who must have been thinking that one day he'll face his own Coronation, was more engaged in his own role in the ceremony.

There seemed to be glances exchanged too between the husband and wife at the centre of this event, who were maybe having the big public wedding they didn't have before.

King Charles now has his Queen Camilla beside him. It took them about half an hour to get to the Abbey in the morning, but their journey to this point has taken them decades.

It's impossible to go into Westminster Abbey without feeling the weight of history on every side. It seeps from every plaque and statue. Even the clothes had a story. The King was wearing a robe that had been his grandfather's and Catherine was wearing earrings that had been Diana's.

Many guests might have been remembering being here at the late Queen's funeral, which eight months ago went out through the same doors as today's newly-crowned couple.

The King and Queen left the Abbey in the Gold State Coach


Such grand occasions, snapshots for the history books, are where the past, present and future overlap.

With the music soaring and the guests on their feet, the King and Queen left the Abbey to step inside the crown-on-wheels that is the Gold State Coach, with umbrellas up against the rain.

The carriage pulled away, past a sea of waving camera phones, and another era had begun.

AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Ukraine Declares De Facto War on Hungary and Slovakia with Terror Drone Strikes on Their Gas Lifeline
A monster hit and a billion-dollar toy empire
Animated K-pop Musical ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Original Animated Film
Canada: Nurse Suspended and Fined 93 Thousand Dollars After Stating the World’s Most Well-Known Fact Since the Creation of Adam and Eve, That There Are Only Two Genders
Elon Musk tweeted, “Europe is dying”
Far-Right Activist Convicted of Incitement Changes Gender and Demands: "Send Me to a Women’s Prison" | The Storm in Germany
Hungary Criticizes Ukraine: "Violating Our Sovereignty"
Will this be the first country to return to negative interest rates?
U.S. Treasury Secretary Whitney Bessent Backs Stablecoins to Boost Treasury Demand
Spain to Declare Disaster Zones After Massive Wildfires
Three-Minute Battery Swap Touted as Future of EVs
Beijing Military Parade to Showcase Weapons Advances
U.S. Tech Stocks Slide on AI Boom Concerns
White House Confirms Talks Over Intel Stake
Trump Suggests U.S. Could Support Ukraine ‘By Air’
Trump Called Viktor Orbán: "Why Are You Using the Veto"
Horror in the Skies: Plane Engine Exploded, Passengers Sent Farewell Messages
AI in Policing: Draft One Helps Speed Up Reports but Raises Legal and Ethical Concerns
Shame in Norway: Crown Princess’s Son Accused of Four Rapes
Apple Begins Simultaneous iPhone 17 Production in India and China
A Robot to Give Birth: The Chinese Announcement That Shakes the World
Finnish MP Dies by Suicide in Parliament Building
Outrage in the Tennis World After Jannik Sinner’s Withdrawal Storm
Class Action Lawsuit Against Volkswagen: Steering Wheel Switches Cause Accidents
UK Government Tries to Sue 4chan for Breaching Online Safety Act
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Cambridge Dictionary Adds 'Skibidi,' 'Delulu,' and 'Tradwife' Amid Surge of Online Slang
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
The CEO Who Replaced 80% of Employees for the AI Revolution: "I Would Do It Again"
"Every Centimeter of Your Body Is a Masterpiece": The Shocking Meta Document Revealed
Character.ai Bets on Future of AI Companionship
China Ramps Up Tax Crackdown on Overseas Investments
Japanese Office Furniture Maker Expands into Bomb Shelter Market
Intel Shares Surge on Possible U.S. Government Investment
Hurricane Erin Threatens U.S. East Coast with Dangerous Surf
EU Blocks Trade Statement Over Digital Rule Dispute
EU Sends Record Aid as Spain Battles Wildfires
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
China Requires Data Centres to Source Majority of AI Chips Locally, For Technological Sovereignty
Escalating Clashes in Serbia as Anti-Government Protests Spread Nationwide
Category 5 Hurricane in the Caribbean: 'Catastrophic Storm' with Winds of 255 km/h
Trump Backs Putin’s Land-for-Peace Proposal Amid Kyiv’s Rejection
Digital Humans Move Beyond Sci-Fi: From Virtual DJs to AI Customer Agents
YouTube will start using AI to guess your age. If it’s wrong, you’ll have to prove it
Jellyfish Swarm Triggers Shutdown at Gravelines Nuclear Power Station in Northern France
OpenAI’s ‘PhD-Level’ ChatGPT 5 Stumbles, Struggles to Even Label a Map
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
×