UPDATE - Coronation day: Britain's King Charles III sets off to be crowned in London

UPDATES WITH BEGINNING OF PROCESSION; CHANGES HEAD, DECK, LEDE

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) — Ahead of their coronation at Westminster Abbey, Britain's King Charles and Queen Camilla set out from Buckingham Palace Saturday on the King's Procession to be crowned in the country's first coronation service in nearly 70 years.

Charles, 74, ascended the throne on Sept. 8, 2022, following the death of his long-serving mother Queen Elizabeth II. He will be crowned along with Queen Camilla at Westminster Abbey, the site of coronations in Britain since 1066 — nearly a millennium.

Charles and Camilla left the palace for Westminster Abbey in the Diamond Jubilee State Coach, in what is traditionally known as the King's Procession.

Accompanied by the Sovereign's Escort guards, they are traveling along The Mall outside the palace, through the Admiralty Arch, passing to the south of the King Charles Island statue in Trafalgar Square before turning onto Whitehall Road leading to the church.

The procession continues down Whitehall and along the east and south sides of Parliament Square.

- Orb and scepter

After completing a route stretching 2.1 some kilometers (1.3 miles), they will arrive at Westminster Abbey for the coronation service, which will be conducted by the archbishop of Canterbury, the senior bishop of the Church of England.

As part of the ceremony, Charles III will be presented with the Orb and the Sovereign's Scepter representing the monarch's religious and moral authority.

Charles will be crowned with the historic St. Edward's Crown, while Queen Camilla will wear a modified version of the Crown of Queen Mary, fashioned in 1911.

After his coronation, Charles will be the 40th monarch to take the traditional Oath of Faithful Service.

Once enthroned, he receives "Homage" — a promise of allegiance and faithfulness, recognizing his spiritual and earthly authority.

After the service, Charles and Camilla will return to Buckingham Palace in the 260-year-old Gold State Coach, in the larger ceremonial "Coronation Procession."

They will later be joined in this procession by other members of the royal family.

Military personnel from the UK's Armed Forces, numbering 6,000, will be on duty during the coronation, along with roughly 400 from at least 35 Commonwealth countries.

In taking the crown, Charles also became head of the Commonwealth, an association of 56 independent countries and 2.5 billion people. For 14 of these countries, as well as the UK, the king is head of state.

These countries, known as the Commonwealth realms, are Australia, Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Belize, Canada, Grenada, Jamaica, Papua New Guinea, St. Christopher and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, New Zealand, the Solomon Islands, and Tuvalu.

Along with millions of people taking to the streets to witness the spectacle, more than 2,200 distinguished figures, including members of the royal family, representatives from 203 countries, and some 100 heads of state, will also be at the event.

Attendees are expected to include Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, former British premiers, first ministers of devolved national governments, members of foreign royal families, Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay, China's Vice President Han Zheng, US first lady Jill Biden, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Irish President Michael Higgins, and dozens of other heads of states and foreign representatives.