King’s Coronation: Where to watch the London procession

Are you planning to participate in the coronation of His Majesty The King and Her Majesty The Queen Consort on Saturday 6th May 2023?

It is the first time in more than a hundred years that a weekend coronation has taken place and it would be a shame to miss this special and historic event. To celebrate, the entire nation is getting a bank holiday on Monday 8th May 2023.

The ceremony is being held at Westminster Abbey (a Unesco World Heritage Site) at 11am and will be conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury. Though you won’t be privy to that you can catch new King Charles III and his wife travelling in the Diamond Jubilee State Coach along the 1.3 miles route to Westminster Abbey from Buckingham Palace. The route will take The Mall through Admiralty Arch via Whitehall, around Parliament Square to Broad Sanctuary.

After the ceremony, the same route will be taken in reverse back to Buckingham Palace This will be a larger procession and members of the Royal Family will accompany the King and Queen Consort.

The event ends with a balcony appearance by King Charles III, Camilla, the Queen Consort along with working members of the Royal Family. A large formation flypast will take place

The best places to watch the coronation procession

This is a free-to-watch event and no doubt there will be swarms of well-wishers hoping to eyeball the Royal couple. Everything starts and ends at Buckingham Palace and working members of the Royal Family will be on the balcony. So you could find a spot and wait there.

Or find a spot on The Mall and St James’s Park. There will be lots of competition to catch a glimpse but even if you don’t you will feel the high-octane energy all around.  

If that doesn’t work how about Whitehall, or Parliament Square? Or even punt a spot near Westminster Abbey.

Where are the nearest Tube stations?

• St James’ Park (District and Circle lines)
• Green Park (Piccadilly, Victoria and Jubilee lines)
• Charing Cross (Bakerloo and Northern lines)
• Westminster (Circle, District and Jubilee lines)

Transport for London (TfL) has confirmed that there are no planned closures on the day of the coronation

A TfL spokesperson said:

“TfL services may be very busy, particularly during the day on Saturday at key transport interchanges, but customers will be able to get to where they need to go. Some short-term safety measures such as queuing, temporary station or road closures, or changes to the way customers enter or exit a station may be necessary.”

If you want to be in the vicinity for the atmosphere but not part of the throngs of people you can watch at one of  London’s screening sites in Hyde Park, The Green Park or St James’s Park, where the day’s events will be shown on large screens.

For those that would rather stay at home, the service will be televised live on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

Check tfl.gov.uk for more information.

Photo by Chris Boland on Unsplash