The King has been crowned the nation’s monarch and prayed to be a “blessing” to people of “every faith and conviction”. King was crowned, the bells of Westminster Abbey rang for two minutes and a fanfare was sounded. A gun salute was also fired by The King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery, stationed at Horse Guards Parade. Advertisement Advertisement A 21-gun salute has sounded at Hillsborough Castle in Co Down, the royal residence in Northern
Ireland , to mark the coronation of the King. The cannons began to
fire at the moment Charles was crowned, by reservists from the 206 (Ulster) Battery, part of the 105th Regiment Royal Artillery. Hundreds of guests are watching the service on a screen within the grounds of the castle. Thousands of people across
Northern Ireland are following the ceremony from Westminster Abbey live on public screens including at Belfast City Hall, Ballymena, Larne, Carrickfergus, Bessbrook, Antrim, Jordanstown and Coleraine. Coronation of King Charles - Live updates on Coronation Day Good morning and welcome along to our live blog on Coronation Day. The doors of Westminster Abbey haveopened for the congregation with more than 2,200 people from 203 countries expected to attend. Heads of state and representatives of overseas governments will arrive from 09:30, foreign royals from 10:25 and members of the
British Royal Family from 10:35. What time will we see the King? The King will enter the abbey through the Great West Door at 10:53 wearing a red velvet robe of state. The ceremony is due to begin at 11:00 Denise Maddox and her daughter Louise Maddox brought their touring caravan to
London to ensure they could get up early for the coronation . The pair scouted out the area on Friday night and took a 5am bus to get near Buckingham Palace. Speaking on the Mall, Denise Maddox said: “I want to see the Gold State Coach. I wasn’t born for the Queen’s coronation and I don’t know if I will be here for William’s. “I have come because I might never see it in my lifetime again. It’s something I have wanted to do since the
Queen passed away.” The pair bought a bottle of champagne at
Christmas to mark the coronation and have brought cornflakes to eat and Union Jack hats with a King Charles picture on the top. Anti-monarchy
protesters demonstrate in London ahead of the coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla on Saturday. There have been some early arrests according to reports. Around 8.30am there were chants of “Not my king” from a group of anti-monarchists standing at the edge of Trafalgar Square. They were met by boos and opposing chants of “God save the King”. Supporters of campaign group Republic are standing in the middle of the crowd waiting for Charles and Camilla’s procession - wuth the Guardian reporting that the head of the group has been arrested. Many of the campaigners are dressed in yellow waving placards with slogans including “king parasite” and “abolish the monarchy”. They are shoulder to shoulder with royal supporters bedecked in Union flags, with one waving a banner carrying a photo of Diana, Princess of Wales. Preparations were in full swing at Buckingham Palace as staff were seen adorning its famous balcony with red and gold draping ahead of the royal family’s appearance later. 13 pictures as preparations begin for coronation of King Charles III Anti-monarchy campaign group Republic said its chief executive had been arrested along with five of his team. It tweeted: “This morning, @GrahamSmith_ and 5 members of our team were arrested. Hundreds of placards were seized. Is this democracy? #NotMyKing # Coronation ” Some more on the arrests of anti-monarchy protesters - and if we will see more? Republic activist Luke Whiting, 26, said: “Six Republic members have been arrested including the CEO as the demonstration was starting at the edge of Trafalgar Square. “It is unclear why, potentially it is because one of them was carrying a megaphone. “It is unclear exactly whether the
police are using these new powers and whether they are misusing them to stop protest happening.” This week, the Metropolitan Police announced they would have an “extremely low threshold” for
protests during the coronation celebrations, and that demonstrators could expect “swift action”. Comments Want to join the conversation? Please register or log in to comment on this article.