Coronation day is fast approaching so to help you plan your regal celebrations, here are all the timings that you need to know. 

King Charles III will be crowned on Saturday, May 6 with the ceremony taking place at Westminster Abbey in London. 

The ceremony will see the monarch crowned alongside the Queen Consort Camilla following a 1.3-mile procession in the Gold State Coach.

Here is a rundown of all the timings you need to know about ahead of the big day.

Bournemouth Echo: King Charles will be crowned at Westminster Abbey on May 6. ( Arthur Edwards/The Sun/PA)King Charles will be crowned at Westminster Abbey on May 6. ( Arthur Edwards/The Sun/PA) (Image: Arthur Edwards/The Sun/PA)

Coronation day key timings to know 

The day begins at 6am when the viewing area along the procession route with the King and the Queen Consort is expected to arrive at Westminster Abbey at 10.53am.

His Majesty will be crowned at midday before the Coronation procession heads towards Buckingham Palace.

The newly crowned King and Queen Consort will receive a royal salute in the Palace gardens at 1.45pm before appearing on the balcony alongside members of the Royal Family for the flypast.

  • 6am – Viewing areas open along the procession route.
  • 7.15-8.30am – Guests for Westminster Abbey begin to arrive at security checkpoints in Victoria Tower Gardens.
  • 9am – Congregation to be seated inside the Abbey.
  • 9.30-10.45am – Heads of state, overseas government representatives, Government ministers, First Ministers, former PMs, foreign royals and members of the royal family arrive.
  • 9.45am – The Sovereign’s Escort of the Household Cavalry begin to gather ready for the procession from Buckingham Palace.
  • 10.20am – The King and Queen Consort’s procession sets off from the Palace.
  • 10.53am – The King and Queen Consort arrive at Westminster Abbey.
  • 11am – Charles and Camilla enter the Abbey through the Great West Door and the service begins.
  • 12pm – The King is crowned. The Archbishop of Canterbury places the St Edward’s Crown on Charles’s head. Trumpets will sound and gun salutes will be fired across the UK.
  • 1pm – The service ends and the newly crowned King and Queen begin their coronation procession back to Buckingham Palace in the Gold State Coach.
  • 1.33pm – Charles and Camilla are expected to enter Buckingham Palace through the Centre Arch.
  • 1.45pm – The King and Queen Consort receive a royal salute from the military in the Palace gardens
  • Around 2.15pm – The King, Queen Consort and members of the royal family appear on the Palace balcony to watch the flypast.

Watch the King's procession route with 3D flyover

The King, accompanied by the Queen Consort, will travel in a shorter procession route than the late Elizabeth II and break with tradition by only using the elaborate 260-year-old Gold State Coach one way – on their return.

The monarch and Camilla have personally decided to make the 1.3-mile outward journey – known as the King’s Procession – from Buckingham Palace in the more modern, comfortable Diamond Jubilee State Coach, which has shock absorbers, heating and air conditioning.

You can view a 3D flyover of the Coronation route below.

A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said: “The carriages chosen reflect the smaller procession to the Abbey and the larger procession back to Buckingham Palace.

“They were the personal choice of Their Majesties.”

The Palace declined to comment on whether the decision to opt for the Diamond Jubilee State Coach at the start has anything to do with the ongoing back pain the King has suffered for many decades. Camilla has also endured back problems over the years.

They will travel, accompanied by The Sovereign’s Escort of the Household Cavalry, down The Mall via Admiralty Arch, along the south side of Trafalgar Square, along Whitehall and Parliament Street, around the east and south sides of Parliament Square to Broad Sanctuary to arrive at the Abbey.

The late Queen rode both ways in the Gold State Coach for her 1953 coronation, famously describing the bumpy experience in the carriage, which is suspended on leather straps, as “horrible”.

Her outward procession was 1.6 miles long but her return procession was five miles, taking her down Piccadilly, along Oxford Street and Regent Street and Haymarket.

It took two hours to complete, featured 16,000 participants and was designed to allow her to be seen by as many people as possible.

A newly crowned Charles and Camilla will instead travel just 1.3 miles back in the Gold State Coach after the ceremony, reversing their outward journey as they wave to the crowds, with the King wearing the Imperial State Crown.

The route is understood to have been chosen for practical reasons, being a familiar tried and tested journey for many royal occasions.