Queen Camilla is anointed in front of everyone during the coronation ceremony | UK News

Camilla, in a break with tradition, is anointed in public at the coronation and presented with a ring that ‘marries’ her as the king’s consort.

The new queen, unlike the coronation of the late queen mother, is consecrated with holy oil without being hidden under a canopy.

She will also only touch the Queen’s controversial ivory staff with dove and gold scepter with cross instead of holding them like the Queen Mother.

Buckingham Palace described the change as “just one of several ways the service has been adapted, evolved and simplified without losing any of its magic and majesty”.

The king will be shielded as usual during his holy anointing, and it was revealed that the new monarch demanded more privacy than his predecessors for the holy moment.

As details of the coronation liturgy were revealed, Lambeth Palace described how the Queen’s ring, an octagonal mixed-cut ruby ​​surrounded by 14 diamonds, bears the symbolism of a ring exchanged at marriage.

A spokesman for the Office of the Archbishop of Canterbury said: “It means a covenant and an agreement, an unbroken bond without end.

“It ‘marries’ Consort to King and them both to God in duty and to men in loving service, and in turn acts as an assurance of God’s tireless love.”

Lambeth Palace said the unveiled anointing symbolized Camilla’s role as consort rather than reigning monarch.

But it marks a change from the coronation of the Queen’s last consort – Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother – in 1937, who was anointed under a canopy.

The Lambeth Palace spokesman said: “The only difference this time is that there will be nothing to obscure the view.”

The palace said in comparison to the king: “This anointing will take place without an umbrella or canopy to demonstrate the different nature of the anointing of a consort compared to an officiating sovereign, as this anointing is with the sovereign’s permission.”

Archbishop Justin Welby, writing in the official coronation souvenir program, said Charles would exchange his “robes of status and honor” for a plain white shirt for the private anointing during the May 6 ceremony.

He wrote that the historic occasion will be “pomp and splendor,” but also “quietness and simplicity” amid the ceremony, when the king will be anointed with holy oil privately under a canopy in the Holy of Holies as part of the coronation.

Elizabeth II was also anointed privately, as is tradition.

Camilla’s ring – made for Queen Adelaide in 1831 – will be presented to her and she will acknowledge it before it is placed back on the altar, unlike the Queen Mother who had it placed on the fourth finger of her right hand and wore it for the rest of the Ceremony.

Likewise, the king will not wear the sovereign’s ring, as is the usual custom.

This ring – a large cluster of sapphires and diamonds with baguette-cut rubies in the shape of a cross, made for William IV in 1831 – is known as the wedding ring of England, marrying the monarch to God in duty and men in service .

In 1937, Queen Elizabeth, later Queen Mother, was presented with the scepter in her right hand and the ivory staff in her left.

Camilla will instead acknowledge the historical items by touching them, Buckingham Palace said.

Her stepson, the Prince of Wales, has long campaigned through his umbrella organization United for Wildlife to stop the illegal trade in animal parts such as rhino horn and elephant ivory.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, Visit our news page.