Prince Charles became king the moment his mother took her last breath at Balmoral Castle in Scotland. There was a ceremony for him two days after Elizabeth II’s death in September. But that was a sombre bit of business conducted by the Accession Council. The “coronation” is the big show, in which the 74-year-old Charles III will be crowned before 2000 guests at Westminster Abbey and paraded through the streets of London in an over-the-top show of British pageantry.
Guards carry flags from Commonwealth countries in a rehearsal for the coronation procession. PA
