The anointing of King Charles III of Great Britain will not be televised, unlike other parts of the coronation ceremony at Westminster Abbey. According to TASS, this is reported by The Times newspaper, citing sources in Buckingham Palace.
Thus, Charles III will follow the example of his mother, Elizabeth II, who also did not allow filming of the moment of her anointing to the king in 1953, although she approved the process of filming the rest of the coronation ceremony. According to the publication, the corresponding decision was made by Charles III in connection with the special sacred nature of the ceremony.
The oil with which Charles III will be anointed king was consecrated on March 3 during a ceremony in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem by Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem and Anglican Archbishop Nosam Naum. As noted at Buckingham Palace, the oil is made from olives harvested in two groves on the Mount of Olives, in the monastery of Mary Magdalene in Gethsemane, where the grandmother of Charles III, Princess Alice of Battenberg, is buried, and in the nearby Ascension Monastery. The oil has been scented with essential oils of sesame, rose, jasmine, cinnamon, neroli, benzoin, amber and orange blossom. The same oil will be used to anoint the wife of the British monarch, Queen Camilla.
During the anointing, the Archbishop of Canterbury (the spiritual head of the Church of England) pours oil from a golden ampule – an eagle-shaped vessel – into a coronation spoon made of gilded silver, which was made back in the 12th century and is the only British medieval royal regalia that has survived after the English Revolution of the mid-17th century. century. After that, the archbishop anoints the head, chest and hands of the king with oil.
The coronation ceremony of 74-year-old Charles III will take place in the presence of 2 thousand people at Westminster Abbey in London on May 6, eight months after the death of Elizabeth II. The invitation to attend the event, in particular, was received by the leaders of Belgium, Hungary, Ireland, Spain, Monaco, France, the leaders of the European Union and the new first minister of Scotland, Hamza Yousaf, who adheres to republican views.
Earlier, in a telephone conversation with Charles III, US President Joe Biden said that First Lady Jill Biden would represent his country at the coronation. Due to the operation, the ceremony will also be missed by Queen Margrethe II of Denmark. Russian Ambassador to the UK Andrey Kelin said earlier that he does not expect an invitation to the coronation in the current political realities.
Source: Rosbalt
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