Live Discussion Post: The Coronation of King Charles III

The coronation service will begin at 11 AM London time. I’m watching (as I know many of you are) from the United States, where the ceremony begins at 6 AM Eastern time. I’ll be watching the coverage on the BBC News channel, but there are also other good (and some free!) alternatives as well for American viewers. Many PBS stations will be carrying the BBC feed of the coronation on their main channels and on some of their digital extra channels as well. And all of the major networks—ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox—and the cable news networks will be showing the ceremony, too.

For viewers all around the world, the ceremony will also be streamed for free on the Royal Family’s YouTube channel. (They also uploaded a little preview clip that features gorgeous views of St. Edward’s Crown.)

A couple of other links that you might find helpful as you watch:

• I did a big overview of the pieces of regalia used in the coronation, in just about the order that we’ll see each of them appear during the ceremony.
• The official order of service for the ceremony has been published, including the prayers, hymns, and a little bit of commentary. You can also access a printable PDF version here.
• If you’re waiting for the ceremony to begin, and you want to brush up on what a coronation looks like, the color film of Queen Elizabeth II’s 1953 coronation (narrated by Sir Laurence Olivier) is also on YouTube. Personally, I did a little rewatch last night of “Smoke and Mirrors,” the 1953 coronation episode from The Crown. It’s one of the only really good episodes of the series—you can read my thoughts in my recap from a few years ago.
• The Royal Family’s Twitter account shared this little sneak-peek video of the inside of Westminster Abbey, ready for the coronation to begin.
• The BBC has published an excellent coronation timetable on their news site, and Buckingham Palace also has a handy coronation guide available online.
• The palace has also shared the official order of service for today’s ceremony in handy printable pdf form.

This post is set to publish at 1 AM Eastern time, a few hours before the service begins. I’m going to catch a tiny bit of shut-eye, but I’ll be around shortly afterward to join in the commentary with you here. After all, there’s no one I’d rather watch a coronation with than the good people of The Court Jeweller community!