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Armed Forces make major contribution to historic Coronation of His Majesty King Charles III

The UK Armed Forces have conducted their largest ceremonial operation for 70 years today, accompanying Their Majesties King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla to a spectacular Coronation service at Westminster Abbey.

More than 7,000 soldiers, sailors and aviators from across the UK and Commonwealth participated in ceremonial activities across processions, flypasts and gun salutes to mark the historic event.

Following the Major General’s Retinue to ‘prove the route’, the King’s Procession made its way from Buckingham Palace to the Coronation Service at Westminster Abbey, escorted by the Sovereign’s Escort of the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment. Consisting of around 200 personnel, two divisions from the Blues and Royals rode in front of the Diamond Jubilee Coach with a further two divisions from The Life Guards riding behind.

At the exact moment the St Edward’s Crown was placed on the King’s head, 21-gun salutes sounded at firing stations across the UK, in Gibraltar, and on deployed Royal Navy ships in tribute to His Majesty. In London, members of the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery fired a six-gun salvo on Horse Guards Parade, while the Honourable Artillery Company fired a 62-gun salute at the Tower of London.

After the service, the 4,000-strong Coronation Procession guided Their Majesties in the Gold State Coach back to Buckingham Palace. Divided into eight groups and 19 bands, the route was flanked by more than 1,000 Armed Forces street liners. Foot Guards of the Household Division lined The Mall, the Royal Navy lined their spiritual home at Admiralty Arch, the Royal Marines were at Trafalgar Square and the Royal Air Force lined Whitehall and Parliament Square.

With around 200 personnel providing a Guard of Honour at Buckingham Palace, together this made up the largest UK military ceremonial operation for 70 years.

As well as marching detachments from across the Household Division, Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force, more than 400 troops from the Commonwealth nations and British Overseas Territories were on parade, representing the diversity and traditions of Armed Forces around the globe with connections to His Majesty The King.

Massed troops then formed up in the garden of Buckingham Palace to deliver a Royal Salute demonstrating their loyalty to The King as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. This was followed by the removal of headdress to enable personnel to pay their respects to Their Majesties through a collective chorus of ‘Three Cheers’.

For the King’s Coronation Flypast, the pilots had to adapt to the weather conditions, which meant that elements of the flypast had to be withdrawn, leaving just the helicopters from all three Services and the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, the Red Arrows to conclude today’s celebrations.

This isn’t the first time the weather has interfered with a Coronation flypast. In 1953, for the Late Queen Elizabeth II’s Coronation, rain and low cloud meant the flypast was delayed for the sky to clear enough for the aircraft to fly over Buckingham Palace, which they finally did at 5:15pm.

Foot Guards of the Household Division lined The Mall, the Royal Navy lined their spiritual home at Admiralty Arch, the Royal Marines were at Trafalgar Square and the Royal Air Force lined Whitehall and Parliament Square.