Prayer, pomp merge in Charles’s coronation as female clergy, non-Christians join centuries-old rite

Prayer and contemplation will accompany pomp and celebration on Saturday when King Charles III is anointed with vegan holy oil consecrated in Jerusalem and a crown is placed on his head by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

The coronation service liturgy, taking place at London’s Westminster Abbey, will both echo and depart from the ceremony Charles’ mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, underwent 70 years earlier. 

For the first time, the ceremony will include portions in three languages — Welsh, Scots Gaelic and Irish Gaelic — that are associated with the British Isles.

In the ceremony, Charles, who became king when Elizabeth died Sept. 8, will sit on the 700-year-old Coronation Chair, in which the Stone of Scone, also known as the Stone of Destiny, will be placed. 

Legend holds the stone was actually “Jacob’s pillow” from the book of Genesis in the Old Testament, but author and professor Ian Bradley, an expert on the monarchy’s history, said the stone is of material not found in the biblical world.

At the start, Charles will be greeted by Samuel Strachan, a 14-year-old male chorister at the King’s Chapel Royal at St. James’s Palace, officials said, and the king will reply, “I come not to be served but to serve.”

Charles will also recite aloud a specially written “King’s Prayer,” a coronation first. The text is drawn from the famous British hymn, “I Vow to Thee, My Country” and the fifth chapter of Galatians in the New Testament. The prayer is a response to the Coronation Oath, enacted into law in 1689, in which the monarch pledges to maintain “the true Profession of the Gospel and the Protestant Reformed Religion Established by Law.” 

The Archbishop of Canterbury will introduce the oath by explaining the monarch’s present-day role in protecting all faiths in the nation. 

The abbey, a worship space linked directly to the crown, has hosted the religious installation ceremony for more than 1,000 years. 

Charles is also the supreme governor of the Church of England and bears the additional title “defender of the faith.”

In 1994, the then-Prince of Wales told BBC interviewer Jonathan Dimbleby he wanted to be known as the “defender of faith,” but has since walked that back. In an address after his 2022 accession to the throne, Charles said he fully recognized his role within the Anglican church.

Where Elizabeth’s anointing was somewhat visible to those closest to the Coronation Chair used for the ritual, Charles will be screened off behind an embroidered cloth.

The oil used for the 2023 anointing ritual was made from olives grown from groves on Jerusalem’s Mount of Olives and were pressed just outside of Bethlehem, Britain’s Sky News reported. 

The oil is perfumed with sesame, rose, jasmine, cinnamon, neroli (bitter orange), benzoin (a balsamic resin) and amber, along with orange blossom, Sky News said.

Unlike earlier consecration oils, no ambergris — a product of whale intestine — was used, making the oil “vegan-friendly” according to media reports. 

The oil was consecrated on March 3 by the Greek Orthodox patriarch of Jerusalem and the Anglican archbishop in Jerusalem.

Mr. Bradley noted that Charles respects the Greek Orthodox faith into which his late father, Prince Philip, was born, and in which his paternal grandmother was a nun.

In 1953, only male clergy participated in the service. 

This year, Dame Sarah Mullally, the bishop of London and dean of the Chapels Royal, head of the King’s personal clergy, will read a passage from St. Luke’s gospel account of Jesus’ life, officials said.

Another innovation of the 2023 coronation is the involvement of Roman Catholic and other non-Anglican Christian leaders in the ceremony.

Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Catholic archbishop of Westminster, will be among those reciting a blessing on the new king, along with Archbishop Nikitas, Greek Orthodox archbishop of Thyateira and Great Britain; the Rev. Helen Cameron, moderator of the Free Churches and Bishop Mike Royal, secretary general of Churches Together in England.

Lambeth Palace said “the progress of ecumenical Relations since 1953” allowed the blessing “to be shared by Christian leaders across the country.”Stephen Cottrell, Anglican archbishop of York, will also participate in the blessing, officials said.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, a Hindu, will read from St. Paul’s letter to the Colossians during the service, a first both for an elected official — this scripture is usually read by a bishop — and for a non-Christian. 

A church spokesman said Mr. Sunak’s participation is linked to his office and not his faith. 

Members of the House of Lords representing Judaism, Islam, Sikhism and Hinduism will also participate.

Archbishop Welby’s office released details of the liturgy days ahead of the gathering of thousands — including U.S. first lady Jill Biden — in the abbey and a global audience expected in the hundreds of millions. 

When the broadcast audience is included, the two-hour event may be one of the most-attended worship services in history.

“This Coronation Liturgy recognizes and celebrates the traditions of over one thousand years, and it would be familiar to The King’s forebears over many centuries,” a Lambeth spokesman said at a video briefing on Friday. “At the same time, the service features newly written and revised texts and other elements, and involves the active participation of people of all ages and many faiths and backgrounds.”

The spokesman said, “The service will also reflect the Monarch’s role today and the Church of England’s understanding of that role in our contemporary society, and it will represent the rich diversity of our nation today as it looks to the future with hope.”