King Charles and Camilla Pose for New Portrait Together Ahead of Coronation
The royal couple's coronation will take place on Saturday, May 6.
Nearly one week ahead of their coronation, the royal family has released a new portrait of King Charles III and Camilla, Queen Consort.
Taken by Hugo Bernand, the photograph depicts the couple in the Blue Drawing Room at Buckingham Palace. Appropriately, the couple are both dressed in blue, with the king in a navy suit and blue tie, and the queen consort in a royal blue dress.
The caption reads, "As the countdown to the Coronation continues, a new photograph of The King and The Queen Consort has been released."
King Charles' coronation on May 6, which formalizes his role as the head of the Church of England and marks the transfer of his title and powers, takes place at Westminster Abbey. It marks the official moment he is crowned king. King Charles will be crowned with the St Edward's Crown from the 17th century, which weighs nearly 5 pounds, and has a solid gold frame and 444 stones.
His wife, Camilla Parker Bowles, will also be anointed and crowned as Queen Consort. Camilla will be the first divorcee to be crowned, and the coronation invitation that was released in April made headlines when it referred to her as Queen Camilla for the first time. Until then, she had been described as queen consort.
Prince Harry will be attending the coronation despite public family tension, though without his wife, Meghan Markle. Harry and Meghan's Netflix docuseries, Harry & Meghan, which was released in December, and the duke's bestselling memoir, Spare, which was released in January, were critical of the royal family and shared intimate details from the couple's perspective.
Markle will be staying at her and Harry's home in Montecito, California, with the couple's two children -- son Archie, who is turning 4 on the day of the coronation and daughter Lilibet, 1. Despite Harry and Meghan's estrangement from the royal family, the couple is featured in the official souvenir program celebrating the coronation, which includes a happy photo of the family -- including Prince William, Kate Middleton and their three kids, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis -- celebrating King Charles' 70th birthday.
Although the actual anointment during the coronation ceremony is not broadcast publicly, plenty of special programming and live footage from the ceremony will be available to watch live on May 6 starting at 5 a.m. ET. Cable viewers will be able to watch coverage on ABC News and Good Morning America, including the concert featuring Katy Perry and Lionel Richie. Others can watch the coronation online on these streaming platforms.
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