Now we WON'T all be called upon to swear our allegiance to the King

Now we WON’T all be called upon to swear our allegiance to the King: Controversial call for millions to take part in ‘Homage of the People’ is changed at the eleventh hour with Brits instead ‘invited’ to private reflection

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• Wording of the Homage of the People at today’s coronation has been changed 

The words of today’s Homage of the People at the King’s coronation have been toned down, it has been revealed.

The Homage is the promise of allegiance and faithfulness the King receives from all of his peoples upon his enthronement, led first by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

The oath of allegiance was not known among the public until last week, when it hit headlines. 

Charles reportedly approved the change which came after a string of commentators criticised the new addition as divisive.

Broadcaster Jonathan Dimbleby, a friend of Charles who wrote the King’s authorised biography, said the monarch would find the Homage of the People ‘abhorrent’.

Only the Prince of Wales will now kneel before the King (pictured) and pledge to be his ‘liege man of life and limb’

BEFORE: The previous wording of the Homage saw the Archbishop of Canterbury ‘call upon’ all persons to make the oath of allegiance

NOW: The revised wording of the Homage is toned down and sees the Archbishop ‘invite those who wish to offer their support to do so’

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, will now ‘invite’ a show of support from the congregation rather than a ‘call’ to those in the Abbey and elsewhere to swear allegiance to the King.

READ MORE: POLICE ARREST REPUBLICAN PROTESTERS CRYING ‘NOT MY KING’ AHEAD OF CORONATION

Build up to the big day has already begun with workers sweeping sand onto roads, police officers arriving and a rain shelter is being set up outside the Abbey entrance.

Metropolitan police and military police officers patrolled the route from Victoria to Westminster from the early hours on Saturday.

Royal fans with Union flags and crowns could be seen on trains and in Tube stations from just after 4.30am.

The King will be crowned at Westminster Abbey by the Archbishop of Canterbury during a coronation ceremony dating back centuries.

Cries of ‘God Save the King’ will ring out around the abbey after St Edward’s Crown is placed on Charles’ head by Mr Welby.

The senior cleric said in a statement issued on the eve of the coronation that the ceremony served as ‘a powerful reflection and celebration of who we are today, in all our wonderful diversity’.

He said people will be struck by the ‘majesty and sacred wonder’ of the service, but also hoped they would find ‘ancient wisdom and new hope’.

The Homage of the People is one of a number of significant updates to the ancient ritual to make it more inclusive and up to date

The new Homage has been toned down, with members of the public invited to repeat the words if they wish

Labour MP Clive Lewis (pictured) previously told the Guardian that he thought the oath would be ‘either unwelcome or ignored by many’

The event will bring together around 100 heads of state, kings and queens from across the globe, celebrities, everyday heroes and family and friends of the couple, with Charles’ estranged son the Duke of Sussex expected to attend.

Invited guests include David and Victoria Beckham, musician Lionel Richie, French President Emmanuel Macron, King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and US First Lady Jill Biden but her husband President Joe Biden will not be attending.

The day will be a display of pomp and pageantry, with the nation’s Armed Forces promising a ‘spectacular’ event when the King and Queen process through the streets of the capital.

The event is the military’s largest ceremonial operation since Queen Elizabeth II’s 1953 coronation, with 9,000 servicemen and women deployed and 7,000 of these performing ceremonial and supporting roles.

King Charles, pictured last night, will be crowned today as his day of destiny arrives

Archbishop Welby followed the longstanding tradition of commissioning new coronation liturgy – the prayers and actions of the coronation service – which has the theme Called To Serve.

He chaired an advisory group of theology, constitutional history and inter-faith relationships experts to draft the liturgy, produced in close consultation with the King and the Government.

The Homage of the People replaced the homage of peers, and Lambeth Palace described it as an invitation to the estimated global television audience of tens of millions to make a ‘a great cry around the nation and around the world in support for the King’.

Archbishop Welby was to say: ‘I call upon all persons of goodwill in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and of the other realms and the territories to make their homage, in heart and voice, to their undoubted King, defender of all.’

All those interested would be invited to say: ‘I swear that I will pay true allegiance to your majesty, and to your heirs and successors according to law. So help me God.’

But now he will say: ‘I now invite those who wish to offer their support to do so, with a moment of private reflection, by joining in saying God save King Charles at the end or, for those with the words before them, to recite them in full.’

A rammed Mall this morning with Buckingham Palace behind 

Charles III’s day of destiny has arrived as the world prepares to watch the historic first coronation of a UK monarch in 70 years at Westminster Abbey where Britain and the Commonwealth will hail its new King today.

The monarch had been heir since the age of three, and is now ready to finally embrace his day of destiny with the woman he loves by his side. VIP guests queued for a mile from the Abbey from 6am to get one of the prime 2,300 seats inside.

Charles will be crowned in a Christian ceremony that dates back for 1,000 years on a day dripping with glorious displays of pageantry. It will also shine a spotlight on Britain’s place on the world stage in the UK’s biggest ceremonial military operation since the state funeral of Sir Winston Churchill in 1965.

His family, including Prince Andrew and Princess Anne, enjoyed a dinner at Mayfair club Oswald’s last night. Mike and Zara Tindall were out until 2am. Prince Harry flew in from Los Angeles yesterday for his 24-hour trip. It emerged last night he has been relegated to the third row in the Abbey with other non-working royals.

And on the streets of London today, including on a packed Mall, there is huge excitement among tens of thousands who have been camped out for days so they can see the extraordinary event unfold. More than 100million will watch on TV around the globe.

Approaching two million people – from all corners of the UK, Commonwealth and the world – are flowing into Central London, despite rain being forecast. Trains into the capital were packed this morning, with soldiers taking part in the ceremony seen flowing into mainline stations. 

Stephen Fry joins the queue for Westminster Abbey. 2,300 guests will attend, including world leaders, stars and hundreds of charity workers

Guests for the service at Westminster Abbey queuing all the way back to Lambeth Bridge – a mile from the church

Members of the House of Lords arriving at Westminster Abbey, including Baroness Hoey

The Abbey awaits its King this morning

Staff at Buckingham Palace literally rolling out the red carpet this morning on the royal balcony, where the King will stand later for a flypast

Police officers guarding Parliament today

Soldiers march in huge numbers over Westminster Bridge 

Members of the Royal Navy assemble at the Cenotaph ahead of the coronation

Soldiers proceeds to their meeting point ahead of Britain’s King Charles III and the Queen Consort Camilla

Troops in full military uniform from various military barracks march past Waterloo

A marching band passes Westminster Station

New dawn as the coronation of King Charles III and Camilla approaches. The view from The Mall  as machines give it a final clean

People wait to watch Britain’s King Charles’ procession to his coronation ceremony from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey

A group paint faces on The Mall this morning on an extraordinary day for the country

The scene on The Mall this morning, where crowds were already huge after days of camping

Grenadier Guards march over Westminster Bridge towards Big Ben this morning

Soldiers rushed into London Waterloo this morning

Royal supporters have rushed to fill central London to be part of the day 

A young woman wrapped in a Union Flag waits at her spot at dawn 

Guests of the King started arriving at the Abbey from 7am – four hours before the ceremony. Some 100 heads of state are in London, with representatives from 203 countries due to attend.

The longest-serving heir to the throne in British history will today be crowned at Westminster Abbey in a ceremony that is steeped in the majesty of his illustrious forebears – but also embraces and emphasises the proud diversity of modern-day Britain.

‘There will be all the pomp and ceremony you could dream of, but as little of the ‘them and us’ as possible,’ one senior royal aide said last night.

Crowned alongside the King, 74, will be his wife of 18 years – and his love for much, much longer.

The once unthinkable has become a reality, and from today the former Camilla Parker Bowles will be known as Queen Camilla as she is anointed and has Queen Mary’s Crown placed upon her head.

Yesterday the 75-year-old Queen Consort made only a brief public appearance as she attended a final rehearsal at the Abbey with her husband in the morning. She chose not to attend any of the other public engagements by his side, preferring to ‘pace herself’ and also ensure ‘the day was about her husband’, sources said.

‘She loves him unconditionally and always wants him to shine,’ a friend said.

Last night the couple retired to enjoy a private dinner at their London home, Clarence House.

‘The calm before the storm – perhaps metaphorically as well as literally’, a friend said with a nod to the dismal weather forecast, something the new King and Queen’s celebrations have in common with the late Queen’s Coronation in 1953.

It came as:

•  Prime Minister Rishi Sunak hailed the Coronation as a ‘moment of extraordinary national pride’;
•  The Archbishop of Canterbury, who will anoint and crown the couple today, predicted that people will be ‘struck by the majesty and sacred wonder of the service’;
•  The King, accompanied by his son and daughter-in-law the Prince and Princess of Wales, shocked and delighted well-wishers camping out along The Mall with an impromptu walkabout yesterday;
•  A relaxed-looking Charles smiled broadly and threw his hands in the air when he was asked if he was feeling the strain, telling one fan: ‘It’s people like you that count’;
•  Kate said she and her children were ‘excited but nervous’ – and she even spoke on the phone to a fan’s aunt in Tennessee who was unable to fly over after breaking her leg;
•  The King and his family entertained dignitaries and world leaders at a series of events, including a glittering reception at Buckingham Palace last night for overseas VIP guests including King Felipe and Queen Letizia of Spain, the Sultan of Brunei, Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark, and the King and Queen of Jordan;
•  Prince Harry was expected to arrive in the UK ahead of his ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ appearance at the Coronation ceremony, but there are no plans for him to feature in any of the private family celebrations or official portraits;
•  Forecasters warned the weather for today looks unsettled, with heavy rain predicted at times, which could threaten the planned 60-aircraft flypast over Buckingham Palace.

Today’s Coronation will see 7,000 servicemen and women accompanying Their Majesties, making it the country’s biggest ceremonial event since 1953.

Indeed, the Coronation procession back from the Abbey after the ceremony is so large that when the King and Queen arrive at Buckingham Palace, the rear will only have reached Downing Street, a mile away.

The 2,300-strong congregation will include representatives of 39 Commonwealth nations and 100 heads of state, as well as many hundreds of ordinary citizens who have selflessly served their country and communities – in a stark divergence from Queen Elizabeth’s Establishment-heavy Coronation of 1953. Peers have been replaced in key roles with people of a range of faiths and creeds to emphasise the country’s diversity and religious tolerance, as well as women bishops and charity and military representatives.

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