When will Prince Charles become King?
Prince Charles has been heir apparent to the throne of Great Britain since he was three years old. Under the common law rule Rex nunquam moritur (‘The king never dies’), Prince Charles will become King as soon as his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, dies. The Accession Council will proclaim that he is King, but it is not necessary for the monarch to be crowned in order to become King or Queen. Parliament will then be recalled for parliamentarians to take their oaths of allegiance to the new sovereign.
- Royal Weddings: The best classical music choices
- Music for Royal Funerals: what music was played at Prince Philip’s funeral?
- Who is the current Master of the Queen’s Music and what is their role?
- The Queen’s Funeral: what music is likely to be played at the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II?
- What has the Queen done for classical music?
Will Charles become King Charles III?
Charles is free to choose his own title as monarch and may not, therefore, become Charles III. For example, King Edward VII had formerly been known by his first name of Albert. Charles’s Christian names are Charles Philip Arthur George, so he may choose to become King George VII, King Philip or King Arthur.
When will the coronation take place?
Charles’s official coronation won’t take place for several months after the accession, following a period of mourning. The Queen’s coronation took place on 2 June 1953, over a year after her accession on 6 February 1952.
!["QueenCoronation1953"]("https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/24/2022/01/QueenCoronation1953-54702ad.png?quality=90&resize=587%2C413" "\"QueenCoronation1953\"")
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, following The Queen’s coronation in 1953
What is likely to be the format of the coronation?
Unlike the recent weddings of Princes William and Harry, which were semi-state and private occasions respectively, Charles’s coronation will be a full state occasion and thus funded by the UK government. The coronation will take the form of an Anglican service held in Westminster Abbey, as has been the case for the last 900 years, but it is likely that space will be made for other religions and Christian denominations to reflect a more modern sensibility.
What music was played at The Queen’s coronation?
Among the hymns and anthems played before and during the Queen’s coronation in 1953 were:
Chaconne from King Arthur – Henry Purcell (arranged Herbage)
Trumpet Tune – Jeremiah Clarke
Crown Imperial – William Walton
‘Jupiter’ from The Planets – Gustav Holst
Regalia procession: ‘Oh most merciful’ – Charles Wood
Regalia procession: Litany for 5 voices – Thomas Tallis
Pomp and Circumstance Marches – Edward Elgar
Greensleeves – arr. Ralph Vaughan Williams
‘Nimrod’ from Enigma Variations – Edward Elgar
Music for the Royal Fireworks – George Frederic Handel
I was glad – Hubert Parry
‘Zadok the Priest’ from Coronation Anthems – George Frederic Handel
Gloria in Excelsis – Charles Villiers Stanford
There were also a number of premieres, including:
Processional – Arthur Bliss
Orb and Sceptre – William Walton
Behold, O God our Defender – Herbert Howells
O taste and see – Vaughan Williams
Te Deum – William Walton
Coronation March – Arnold Bax
What music is likely to be featured in Charles’s coronation?
It’s a fair bet that Charles will want to honour previous monarchs and his mother with several of the same selections as above. A lifelong fan of classical music, he also named some of his favourite classical pieces in an interview for Classic FM in 2020, including Wagner’s Siegfried Idyll, choruses from Bach’s St Matthew Passion, the ‘Bridal March of the Birds’ from Parry’s The Birds of Aristophanes, Chopin’s two piano concertos, Richard Strauss’s Four Last Songs, and Julius Benedict’s Piano Concerto in E flat Op. 89.
When interviewed for Radio 3’s Private Passions in 2018, Charles listed several further favourites: Creed from the Russian Orthodox liturgy, which was sung at his wedding to Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall; the final movement of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony; Haydn’s Cello Concerto No. 1; and Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.
It is likely, too, that several new works will be commissioned for Charles’s coronation, as they were for Queen Elizabeth’s, and that these will reflect a diverse and modern United Kingdom.
Who will the performers be?
Charles is patron of numerous UK music institutions, orchestras and choirs so it stands to reason that musicians associated with these bodies may well be featured during the coronation. Among his musical patronages are: the Bach Choir, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, English Chamber Orchestra, the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra and Chorus, the Purcell School, the Royal College of Music, Royal Conservatoire Scotland, the Royal Opera House and Chorus, the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.
Prince Charles photo: Dan Marsh