King Charles III crowned in ceremony blending history and change

King Charles III was anointed and crowned on Saturday (May 6) in Britain's biggest ceremonial event for seven decades.

King Charles III was anointed and crowned on Saturday (May 6) in Britain's biggest ceremonial event for seven decades, a display of pomp and pageantry that sought to marry 1,000 years of history with a monarchy fit for a new era, Reuters reports.

In front of a congregation including about 100 world leaders and a television audience of millions, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the spiritual leader of the Anglican Church, slowly placed the 360-year-old St Edward's Crown on Charles' head as he sat upon a 14th-century throne in Westminster Abbey.

During the historic and solemn two-hour service, which dates back to the time of William the Conqueror in 1066, Charles' second wife Camilla was also crowned queen.

A huge military procession followed, gun salutes were fired, thousands of soldiers roared three cheers, and there was a scaled-down flypast by military aircraft as the newly-crowned king and queen waved from the balcony of Buckingham Palace to cheering crowds who gathered on The Mall boulevard.

While rooted in history, the ceremony - televised for only the second time - was also an attempt to present a forward-looking institution and to reflect a more diverse country with all its religions.

"No other country could put on such a dazzling display - the processions, the pageantry, the ceremonies, and street parties," Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said.