The anti-monarchy movement plans to demonstrate on Saturday. (file)
London:
All Britons will be called upon to swear allegiance to King Charles III at his coronation, an oath until now reserved for British nobility, in a move that has irked anti-royalists.
The office of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, who will lead the coronation ceremony on May 6 at Westminster Abbey, announced on Saturday that the traditional “honor of peers” – during which representatives of the nobility kneel before the king and pledge allegiance . For that – will be abolished.
Instead, the ceremony would involve a “people’s honour”, in which the archbishop would call on all people in the United Kingdom and other places where King Charles is head of state to take the oath of allegiance.
The archbishop will call on “all persons of goodwill in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and other regions and territories, to pay homage in heart and voice to their undoubted King, Protector of all”.
The order of service would read: “All who wish, in the abbey, and elsewhere, say together: I swear that I will pay true allegiance to your majesty, and to your heirs and successors according to law . so help me God. “
British MPs, but also Canadians, because the British sovereign is their head of state, already take an oath of allegiance to the monarchy when they take office.
On Sunday, several elected representatives interviewed in the British media indicated that they would take a new oath during the coronation.
However, plans to ask the public to pledge their allegiance to the king during the coronation have been branded “disrespectful, tone deaf and a gesture that holds the people in contempt” by an anti-monarchy group .
Graham Smith, a spokesman for Republic, which campaigns for the abolition of the British monarchy, said: “In a democracy it is the head of state who must swear allegiance to the people, not the other way around.”
The anti-monarchy movement plans to demonstrate on Saturday.
The introduction of the new oath is one of a number of changes to the centuries-old ceremony, which the palace specifically seeks to develop to reflect the country’s diversity.
The last coronation took place 70 years ago when Queen Elizabeth II, the mother of Charles, was crowned.
He died in September at the age of 96.
Saturday’s ceremony will be attended by female bishops for the first time, as well as representatives of non-Christian religions.
Another new feature is that the texts will be read in the languages of the other countries of the United Kingdom: Welsh, Scottish Gaelic and Irish Gaelic.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)