Charles III, Camilla crowned King, Queen in first coronation in 70 yrs

• 

King Charles III has officially been crowned King in the first coronation in the UK since 1953, as the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby placed the gold St Edward's Crown on his head, symbolizing the monarch's authority.

"God Save the King" filled the hall of 2,300 members at Westminster Abbey, while trumpets sounded at the religious confirmation of his accession. Ceremonial gunfire blasted out while churches rang their bells across the country. 

His wife, Camilla, was crowned Queen in a smaller ceremony right afterward.

The two-hour-long Anglican service, during which Charles pledged "I come not to be served but to serve" would have been recognizable to the 39 other monarchs crowned at the same location of Westminster Abbey since 1066.

For the first time, female bishops and choristers participated in the ceremony alongside leaders of non-Christian faiths, and Celtic languages such as Welsh, Scottish Gaelic, and Irish Gaelic were featured more than ever. In another first-timer, a gospel choir sang while a Greek choir intoned a psalm in tribute to King Charles's late father, Prince Philip, who was born on the island of Corfu.

Read next: Assange invites King Charles to Belmarsh prison to mark coronation

The King's eldest brother Prince Andrew was booed as he entered the abbey, especially since he has been sidelined as a result of his friendship and ties with the late convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

His son and royal exile, Prince Harry, was surprisingly in attendance although he was initially uninvited alongside his wife, Meghan Markle, ever since criticizing the family and moving to the US in 2020.

Both attendees were relegated to the third row of the royal family seating, with no formal role in proceedings.

That day, however, was not all celebration. UK police arrested leading members of the anti-monarchy group Republic as they prepared to protest along the route of a procession for the coronation.

"They've arrested six of our organizers and seized hundreds of placards, they won't tell us why they've arrested them or where they're being held," a Republic member told AFP in London's Trafalgar Square.

Republic chief executive Graham Smith was one of those arrested before the group had a chance to wave placards reading: "Not My King."

A poll conducted in the UK by YouGov earlier found that 51% of participants opposed the funding of the UK's King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla Bowles' coronation on May 6.

A mere 32% were in favor of funding the coronation, out of 4,246 adult participants, and 18% stated that they did not know whether they were with or against it. 

This poll comes as the UK faces a record-breaking inflation rate and a cost-of-living crisis considered one of the current worsts, with the rising cost of goods alongside stagnant wages resulting in strikes and protests across productive and educational sectors.

Read more: Commonwealth natives call on the UK King to denounce colonial past

South Africans were also demanding that the Star of Africa be returned to where it was unearthed over 100 years ago. The diamond, which is set in the Sovereign’s Scepter, is the world's largest-cut diamond.

According to the report by Reuters, the piece, also known as Cullinan I, is a 530-carat white diamond from the Cullinan diamond which is a 3,100-carat stone mined near Pretoria. The scepter is used by the British monarchy during special ceremonial occasions. In this context, a Change.org petition has gathered 8,200 signatures by Friday afternoon to demand the repatriation of the diamond.